CHENNAI: There has been a sprinkling of participation at the SAIL GOA 2025. The sport of sailing is slowly emerging from the shadows of other more illustrious Olympic sports but a lot needs to be done before it turns out to be a popular sport. But that has not deterred some young sailors to try their hand in this niche water sport.
Coach Eabad Ali has been keenly following the fortunes of youngsters in windsurfing. The coach-cum-sailor is the first to win a medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in this new Olympic discipline — iQFOiL. This was introduced at the Paris Olympic last year, replacing RS:X vessel as well. Eabad has been one of the exponents in this sport that has started to take shape in India. He pointed out that there has to be more participation and awareness sailing in general and windsurfing with iQFOiL in particular, but there is a bunch of young sailors who are making a mark nationally. Even at the recently held SAIL Goa that was organised by the Goa Yachting Association.
Eabad pointed out that Udaiveer Singh Johal stood out in the age group competition and was by far the most promising among the young sailors the country has seen in his age. “He has taken upon children much older than him and is already set eyes on the Olympics,” said Eabad, who coaches Udaiveer as well. “His curiosity and passion will take him places,” said Eabad.
Sailing is not new to Udaiveer. In fact one can safely say it runs in the family. It was a time during the COVID-19 pandemic when everything was shut in Chandigarh and owing to a change in his posting in the army, former India Olympic sailor Nachhatar Singh Johal and his family shifted to Mumbai. Johal senior competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Four years later, Udaiveer is creating ripples in windsurfing. He is the national champion in U-13 category for consecutive years (2023 & 2024). Aged just 11 years and six months, he has taken Dona Paula by storm winning the U-15 T-293 competition at the recently-held SAIL GOA 2025.
It all started when Johal senior took him and his brother Adhiraj Singh for a sailing session. “I remember sitting on the rib of the laser standard boat, and fearing the water there. My brother was supposed go for a sail. But I started to have a connect with the water, and the winds,” Udaiveer told this daily.
Aged seven then, Udaiveer felt the thrills of sailing and windsurfing. “It’s the tides and waves that pulled me into sailing, although it was by watching my father participate in the Olympics that is pushing me to win medals for the country,” he added.
Initially practising with an Optimist sailboat, which is a common sight in Dinghy, he switched to Windsurfing with a Techno 293 board. “It was Eabad sir and Manish (Raja) sir who helped me make the switch to this board and it has been fun,” he said.
After dominating the age-group categories in the national levels, Udaiveer has set his eyes on qualifying for the Asian Games in 2026. “I will be switching to iQFOiL by the end of the year, and I’d be working hard in Thailand to equip myself,” he concluded.
More awareness will help sport grow: Eabad
Though the coach has spoken highly about the new string of players, he rued lack of awareness and minimal institutional support for the Olympic discipline of sailing may put them on the back foot. Windsurfing has been in most of the conversations in the sailing scene had spoken how the upcoming windsurfers have shown sparks of talent. “These kids have done well, at national level, all thanks to their early exposure to the sport. I, for one, got to know about windsurfing at a much later period(21 years),” Eabad said. This is in reference to the national level SAIL GOA 2025 tournament. “It is important that schools should acknowledge sailing as a sport. People need to be educated about sailing and its existence as a sport,” said Ali. Only three participants took part in the T-293 category in both U-15 Boys and Girls’ Division. The senior and Olympic standard iQFOiL also saw a low participation in senior category. Costs of equipments could be a major deterrent, he felt. The coach hopes more government and private sector support will help the sport grow.