Winds of success

Despite creating a new record for Hyderabad, Rishab hasn’t let it affect him too much. “I’m very happy that I won. But back at school my friends don’t understand much about sailing, so that hasn’t changed much. Also, I can’t let any of the success affect me because I need to concentrate on my studies. The deal with my dad is simple, if I excel in my studies, I can keep sailing,” he says with a laugh.

For someone who started learning how to sail three and a half years ago, Rishab has taken part in close to 15 regattas. “When I visited Chennai five years back, I went sailing with my cousins. I liked it, but my cousins told me that I wouldn’t find a sailing group in Hyderabad,” he says.

After he came to Hyderabad, he searched and found out about the Yacht Club of Hyderabad and the Telangana Sailing Association. “I never got around learning to sail until three and a half years back. My mum wanted me to join some classes and so I decided to learn how to sail,” he says.

Rishab might just be 14, but he has endured weather conditions that many wouldn’t have, especially during this championship. “Since we were off the coast of Chennai, the weather was a little bad. Day one of the race was quite good. But day three was when the challenge started,” he says, adding, “The waves were huge, about two metres high, and there was no wind. So sailing became tough. Despite that I gave my best, but I just missed the mark by a point and a competitor from UAE got a point more than me,” he says.

“I never play to win. I sail because I love it and it makes me feel very happy. During the race, many told me that I did have it in me to win. But it was only on the last day that I had this moment when I realised that I wanted to win this,” he adds.

Sailing is not an easy sport. You have to battle difficult weather conditions, handle the sails and make quick and important decisions and Rishab says that it has taught him a lot. “Sailing has helped me a lot and this is not just when I’m sailing. Now I am better at taking decisions, since sailing is all about that,” says Rishab, who practises sailing at least for an hour every week after school.

For Rishab, this win was due to his continuous hard work, his parents’ efforts and yes, his coaches Suheim Sheikh and Chinna Reddy. “My mom would take me for practice. It takes about two hours to reach Tank Bund and my mom would sometimes even stay back till my practice was done. My coaches Suheim sir and Chinna Reddy too have stood by me and it feels great,” he adds. So what does the future hold for him? He says, “For now I want to keep sailing. I want to be part of the Asian Circuit next year, so I’m working towards that.”