CHENNAI: The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu assembly is known to be an active, jocular person. But few would have expected him to try out a shiny, red jet water scooter displayed at a boat show, organized by the Royal Madras Yacht Club. Dressed casually, without his customary starched white routine, Speaker D Jayakumar was overjoyed as he sat astride the scooter and had it's various features explained to him, on Saturday evening. Perhaps he would have had enjoyed it a shade more, had it actually been on the ocean, ventured one of the sailors there. This concluded a 'mobile' week for Jayakumar, who had surprised his supporters when he rode a cycle to promote awareness about HIV and the Red Ribbon Express a few days earlier.After five days of nail-biting sailing action on the Marina, the 420 Sailing National Regatta came to a close with the winners being felicitated by Jayakumar, at a formal ceremony-cum-boat- exhibition. "If only we had known how to get to the RMYC when we were growing up, even I would have learnt sailing and would have won an Olympic gold medal," said Jayakumar, oozing his characteristic wit and charm. He also reminded all the sailors there that he was much closer to the sea than they might have thought, as he visits the people in Royapuram, his constituency, quite regularly. He also explained to the gathered crowd how the 'catamaran' was a scientific tool that fishermen had been using for centuries.He presented the awards to Yakobu K and Rajeev Kumar from Hyderabad who won the final race with 13 points. Jayakumar said that the Chief Minister was very supportive of sports and tourism, which is why he believed water sports would get a big boost in the next year or so. "We have allocated several crores to give you the best facilities," he told the younger sailing aspirants, "Now are you happy?"
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