Chaaya Blue hosts annual East coast sailing event

Following the tremendous success of last year’s sailing regatta, ‘Chaaya Blu’ Trincomalee and the Royal Colombo Yacht Club are launching an Annual East Coast Sailing Event. The event will be hosted in Trincomalee, for the third year running.

Launching off at the beachfront of the newly re-furbished ‘Chaaya Blu’, a large fleet of sailing dinghies, belonging to four classes, is expected to cross the start line in the first race scheduled for the afternoon of Friday 26 August. In addition to the GP14s, which make up the bulk of the island’s amateur sailing fleet, there will be the Sri Lanka Navy’s 14-foot Enterprise-class boats flying their traditional sky-blue sails. Single-sailed Laser-class dinghies in the Youth category are also expected to participate.

Commodore, Lalin Jirasinha, of the Royal Colombo Yacht Club, said, “In past years, Trincomalee used to be a major hub for the sport of sailing and we hope this event, which is now on for a third year running, will give new impetus to restoring Trinco as a sailing destination in Sri Lanka. We timed this event so that as many youngsters could participate during their school holidays, and also because during this period there are calm seas with strong south-westerly katchan winds blowing. It is the ideal recipe for exciting sailing”.

The two-day event, hosted by ‘Chaaya Blu’ Trincomalee, is located on a broad sandy beach  five km North of Trincomalee town. The location, a haven for the adventure-travel enthusiast, is ideal for angling, canoeing, surfing, scuba diving, and even whale and dolphin watching during the marine mammal season of the year.