Mumbai's ready to set sail?

“It’s been close to five years and  finally it’s happening — the plans for the Mumbai marina seem to be happening with the government taking an interest in this,” says Anju Dutta of a yacht and boating company excitedly. “The season has just begun for sailing and its going to be a good year ahead,” she enthuses.

Optimistic market
While most powerboats earlier just used to zipping across to Mandwa and Alibaug for a weekend, there’s now more to the sea-faring vessels then that. While the city has had a slew of boat shows over the last few years, there’s more promise on the anvil. “The market is growing and you have bigger boats coming in. More people are taking to sailing and those that have already bought boats are upgrading too,” she informs. That translates to? “Well about a 10 per cent growth to say the least and by 2011, if the marina comes into place, expect a 200 per cent growth,” she adds.

Pleasure on the waters
While the seascapes of harbour cities everywhere — the French Riviera, Cote D’Azur and more are great sailing destinations, will Mumbai take a page out of their diaries and enjoy its coastline? Riyhad Kundanmal, who owns a boating company,  certainly feels so. “The boating industry is heading the car industry way. Imagine the Rolls Royce on the waters, that’s what the Fairline ones are,” he starts, referring to some of the almost-Herculean, fibreglass luxury yachts and state-of-the-art vessels. “We’re talking sheer luxury here. Boats  fitted with an engine that has airplane technology, chic jacuzzis and those can even be left on auto-pilot while you nod off to sleep,” he smiles.

And with more corporate training programs now based on sailing as a way to discovery and learning, maybe it’s time to say bon voyage!