The event was the first offshore Regatta in India complying with OSR Cat 3 requirements and was organized by Royal Madras Yacht Club under the authority of the Yachting Association of India, the apex sailing body. The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy provided support and logistics for a safe event. World renowned sailors consented to participate in the event to get the press and media interested. Commander Abhilash Tomy, the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world in a sailboat and Lt. Cdr Vartika Joshi, the naval officer who captained the all-women team which circumnavigated the globe.
Event organizer Capt. Vivek Shanbhag said that for the first-time satellite trackers were used for continuous coverage. The website was given wide publicity for tracking the race in real-time on smart phones and laptops.
The first leg had VCS leading from the beginning. Over the next 8 hours as the sun was setting, VCS was about 500 meters ahead of INWTC and about 3 kms behind were EMESA leading by a km over PSA. The race was a close reach with calm seas and 10 knots SW winds. Being a new moon, the sky was bright with a million stars and boats had to keep watch over the many fishing boats dotting the seas. In the last 2 kms the winds dropped to 4 knots and VCS was trying to spot the race committee vessel at the finish line among the numerous fishing boats with similar lights. Meantime INWTC hoisted their kite and narrowed the margin and got a slim lead over VCS. By the time VCS hoisted their kite, the winds dropped further, and the boats moved in slow motion with INWTC finishing 3 minutes ahead. Similarly, PSA bringing the rear managed to pip EMESA by a minute at the finish line. After 14 hours racing the finish was an absolute thriller!
After a good, long nights sleep, the next day saw the fleet prepare to sail the return leg to Chennai. The second leg had a wind change and was 10 knots from NE with the boats sailing a long beat to windward. VCS tacked and headed deep into the sea, with the other three teams hugging the coast. INWTC managed a comfortable lead of about 90 minutes over the next 10 hours and the next three boats finished within 4 minutes of each other! VCS, which was lagging behind by a huge margin of 5 kms, managed to continuously trim their sails and finished second. The last boat took about 16 hours. It was yet another nail-biting finish, an event rarely heard of in offshore racing.
As a result, the cumulative results of the two legs saw INWTC win with two bullets, followed by VCS with two 2nds, and a tie for third place between PSA and EMESA!Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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