​Hyderabad : It has been 25 long years since the city of Hyderabad has produced a National champion in Sailing. Hyderabad was once a hot spot for producing champions and a pioneer in encouraging young sailors in the sub junior category to excel.

The Secunderabad Club had produced some of the best sailors in the country but that was along time ago.

2014 turned the tide with a Gold and a Silver at the Monsoon Regatta in July by Leela Sagar and Rishab Nayar. A Silver and a Bronze at the Bombay Nationals for Ragi Rajnikanth and Raghavendra Raghu in the Topper Class and a Gold for Leela Sagar in the Optimist Class at the Winter Regatta in Bombay. Leela Sagar also got a Bronze at the Coastal Nationals in Mumbai in October.

Moving on Leela finished 7th at the India International Regatta under extremely heavy wind conditions and redeemed himself in style at the Inland Nationals at Bhopal to strike gold with 7 wins out of 12 and bring the National Trophy back home to Hyderabad after a long drought.

With such great performances all in just one year the Yacht Club of Hyderabad – YCH –  is celebrating 6 years of achievement with a felicitation ceremony at the premises on Sunday 1st Feb 2014.

The Yacht Club was founded by veteran sailor Suheim Sheikh in 2009 with just 3 boats and now boasts of a fleet of 45 boats and an international class coaching facility.

The medals are the first won by the newly formed state of Telangana which is among just two states to have a lake in the middle of the capital city that has produced many an international sailor including the likes of Arjuna Awardees Rajesh Chowdury and CS Pradipak.

The Monsoons bring on the raging winds and the rest of the country stops sailing and Hyderabad’s sailing season commences attracting the best in the country across to the Monsoon Regatta and similar championships like the Laser Week.

Despite being called a club the YCH is in reality a training establishment for children with the byline “Dignity Through Sports” The Club works with children to train them on the sport and help them manage a balanced athletes nutrition and has now produces many a national level champion.

The Club is once again planning to send its athletes abroad for the Europeans and the Asia Cup across cities and countries like Singapore, Langkawi, Abu Dhabi and many parts of Europe.

The YCH is commencing a program that will target the next Asian Games. The program will select children at the age of 9-12 and train them across the next few years to bring them upto speed to make a dash for the Asian Games 2018.

All the Sailors are being felicitated at the Yacht Club on Sunday by the Principal Secretary Sports and Tourism Mr.BP Acharya, IAS in the presence of a host of young budding sailors from across the city.