The Regatta makes a Mumbai debut

Competition, comradeship and skill define the Bombay Merchants Regatta, as 15 luxury yachts zigzag through the waters of the Arabian Sea, competing for the C-in-C Cup and the Gurkha Cigars Series Trophy. Organised by the Bombay Merchants in partnership with the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command and Gurkha Cigars, the regatta of luxury yachts is the first-of-its-kind to be held in India, earlier this month.

The route's been marked out, the boats have lined up, and every skipper is ready with Time Tracker (TT) a mobile software, through which the entire race is recorded and sent to Bharat Kewalramani, who compiles the information. "It's so accurate that if you miss one rounding or even went around the wrong way, you're disqualified," says Viraf Hansotia, the chief organiser from Gurkha Cigars. Later, at the award ceremony held at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, the winners of the race of the day Peace and Plenty—owned and captained by Ashish Hemrajani from BookMyShow—proudly step up to collect the C-in-C Cup. The Gurkha Series Trophy goes to the yacht that won the regatta race for the season—Cunning Plan, owned and captained by Frank Hancock, ex-MD of Barclays Bank investment banking.

Owned with pride

Like Peace and Plenty and Cunning Plan, most of the yachts are owned and sailed by industrialists, including Jamshyd Godrej of the Godrej Group, Ravi Mariwala of the Mariwala Group, and Bharat Kewalramani, former-head of South East Asia for JP Morgan. Guiding and controlling the yachts are ace sailors that include legends like Cmde Surinder Mongia (Arjuna awardee), Capt Homi Motivala (world champion, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna), Lt Cdr Farokh Tarapore (Olympian, world champion, Arjuna awardee), and Cdr Dilip Donde (solo non-stop circumnavigator). Also present at the regatta was Commander-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Girish Luthra.

"While the Bombay Merchants Cup (BMC) have been racing informally, it's the first time that it's been done with corporate support and the navy coming on board," says Hansotia. The organisers intend to make the regatta a bigger annual event, with more sailors and better and more prizes, similar to the Henley Royal Regatta, one of the most watched and celebrated events in the United Kingdom. "While Mumbai's harbour is fabulous for sailing, our lifestyle may or may not permit a five-day regatta like the Henley Royal Regatta. It would mean taking a lot of time off work, and most of us are working professionals," adds Hansotia, who is part of the crew aboard Cunning Plan, which won two trophies.

Sailing with love

Once Kewalramani got the league going four years ago, it's been sun, surf and sail for this group of passionate sailors, who set sail from Mumbai every weekend from October to May. "Mumbai is one of the best sailing harbours in the world, not because it's pretty, not because the water's blue, but because of its wonderful wind," says Kewalramani. When the BMC started sailing and racing, it was with only two or three boats, but now "we get15-16 boats on a good day, on most days we get 12, and we complain when we have eight," he adds.

As more boats joined the merry brigade, "we started forming teams, and strategise and work as a team. But sailing as a whole is still very nascent in India, and I wish it picks up and improves a lot more," says Ravi Mariwala, who has been sailing for 45 years and is the owner of the Blazing Surmai,.

Top three regattas in the world

UK's Henley Royal Regatta has been held annually since 1839, except during the two world wars. It began as a one-day event, but was extended to five days in 1986

One of the oldest and largest racing events in sailing, the Cowes Week Regatta started in 1826. It has attracted British and foreign royalty and between 800 and 1,000 boats with around 8,000 competitors

The Royal St John's Regatta is one of the oldest organised sporting events in North America. It's royal designation was incorporated in 1993