Remy Fernandes has lost count of the number of times he became a national champion.
He knows for sure he finished second in the first national championship in which he took part. It was, as he remembers, just a year after he took to windsurfing, and if he had a little more experience, the top place at the National Junior Boardsailing Championship at Dona Paula in 1988 was there for the taking.
Remy remembers his first national triumph vividly. That was in 1996, when he had graduated to the senior level and had enough experience in the bag. It was when he left India’s top names behind to finish as the India No. 1 at the National Boardsailing Championship at Caranzalem in the summer of 1996.
“I was overjoyed. Windsurfing happened entirely by chance and being the best in India was quite an achievement for me,” says Remy, leafing through a huge pile of photos and certificates that he has carefully collected since winning his first trophy in 1988.
As a child, windsurfing was never Remy’s sport. By his own admission, he was enchanted by the sea, either swimming in the waters at Dona Paula — his house was within touching distance — or fishing. But one evening when a windsurf board showed up nearby, it was love at first sight.
“I asked whether I could just touch the board, but I was turned away,” remembers Remy, then just 17.
Like a lover who was spurned by his beloved, Remy became obsessed with the windsurf board and decided that he would not just take to the sport but master it too.
It wasn’t easy, though. Sailing is the water sports equivalent of golf, a sport the majority can’t afford, but with his father working at the National Cadet Corps (NCC) next door, it helped that at least someone had a connection.
NCC had several different boats at Dona Paula for training young cadets and Remy would often join the trainees. Since the Goa Yachting Association (GYA) kept their sail boats and windsurf boards in the same navy shed near Remy’s house, he could use the boards and train on them too.
“The GYA helped me a great deal. They were very supportive, particularly president Cesar Menezes,” says Remy.
When he started, Micky Martins taught him the art of sailing, but his career really took off when Lt Col Deepak Dikhit (Retd), a former national champion, conducted a camp here ahead of the Junior Nationals in 1988.
Remy spent hours in the sea battling its constantly changing nature, and having won his first championship in 1996 in the Mistral 1 design class, went on to win five more national titles. He remained unbeaten for four years in a row from 2000 till 2003 as he understood the nature of the water currents or the wind direction better than anyone at home.
It was quite an achievement for a civilian to excel in the sport at the time. Derrick Menezes, Goa’s best-known exponent of the sport, had shown the way, and Remy followed suit, dominating a sport where the army and navy always had the upperhand.
“The army and navy guys got everything free while we had to support ourselves. It was not easy, but my parents (Felicidade and Jose Fernandes) backed me, while Cesar provided good support. This sport is good for the rich, but for those like us, it’s never easy,” says Remy, whose exploits took him to China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy and England.
Both his daughters took to the sport naturally but gave up midway. Rhea was a champion before she packed her bags for greener pastures in UK, while Megan followed her father’s footsteps and then quit.
“I devoted my life to this sport and had no time for anything else. I have no regrets. People know me because of this sport. Maybe, if I had received international exposure and proper coaching all through my career, I would have achieved much more,” says Remy, who was honoured with the Bakshi Bahaddar Jivbadada Kerkar Awardee, the highest recognition for sports in Goa.
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