Voyage to Pondy and back - 2017
10th - 17th April 2017

Dear Friends of the RMYC, In the first half of April, some members of the RMYC planned a voyage by a class of boat called "Sea Bird" to Pondy and back.

A pilot/lawyer - Capt. Arvind Sharma (and his crew Capt. Omkar who are 3 months old to sailing) dared an off shore expedition ... a few of us who had dreamed to conquer the shores beyond Mahablipuram in a Sea Bird (read Mr. Navaz Currimbhoy) quickly responded, and the date of 10th April 2017 was etched in stone .... and the rest is history.

Click on image to enlarge

       

Final check before commencing voyage

Voyage commenced - Heading out of the Madras Post

Pondy here we come!

Crew Returning to Madras

Finding crew to do what we thought would be a 48 hour journey in a Sea Bird boat (without a covered deck/cabin or toilet on board) was a bit daunting till such time that our Coach Chinna (father of a new born infant sailor who is already on a Level 1 training of figures of 8 and reef knots ...) volunteered to do the expedition ....

The boats were cleaned, Mr. Chidambaram (yes, our "Enduring" Honorary Secretary) pledged his boat and volunteered to do the trip .... Jehan Driver ( the same one that has salt water flowing in his veins) and Sundu (the eternal Mr. Kool) enlisted ... By this time, Arvind and Om had already contacted the subcontractors of NASA and DRDO to provide some sort of lighting on board. The boat looked like a mobile Xmas tree in the harbor when they were finished (picture attached).

Two boats with 4 and 3 people respectively cast off at 7 am. on Monday 10th. April from the harbor and set sail to Pondy. The wind was great @ 20 kmph. from the South - the current was also strong from the South and the swell was in excess of a meter and a half. In effect, we started on a journey that was into the wind and against a strong current ... a French catamaran that had come from Galle to the RMYC about 10 days prior to our departure promised us that the journey would last about 30 hours ... We were packed with plenty of water on board, "ready to eat" food packets, fruits and some petrol (to use in the engine if things got out of control) ... and we were ready to go.

The expedition began as per plan at 7 am. on Monday morning ... however, before the sun could set that same evening, some of us were "throwing up" good freshly consumed Water Melon, Nagpur Oranges and Hill Banana's ... nothing stayed in our stomach ... AND by dusk ... some of us felt that we were tasting our guts ... Except for feeding the fish (puking) the day progressed well with the Club boat "Dream Liner" [D.L] approaching Kalpakkam around 7 pm. Some of us in the other boat ie. "Capt. Haddock's Sidhari" [C.H.S] were abreast of the Mahablipuram light house (maybe 5 km. behind D.L). Except for Capt. Haddock, none of us ate much ... Capt. Haddock to rub insult to injury ate his share of curd rice for lunch, coffee at 3 pm. and a bit of holy water to bid the sun good bye.

Then, as expected ... the s*i*t hit the fan - at around 7 pm. the wind dropped to below the level of a "gentle breeze" and the effect of the current running in the opposite direction (ie. towards Madras) was humongous. Around 9 pm. we got a call from Chinna and crew that shores of Kalkappam were spooked ... and they were stuck in the same place for over an hour ... the spirits of the Danish "Sadras Cemetery" seemed to have come alive around 9 pm. and the boat seemed on the same GPS point for what seemed like eternity.

To cut a long story short, with two of the 3 crew indisposed ... D.L motored its way south towards Pondy in a slow and steady manner - a remarkable feat considering the fatigue of the day's sail and the physical condition of the crew on board (see attached picture with Om looking like he was in commune with creator) .... As the night progressed, when the wind died, our boat The C.H.S changed tacks and sailed into the horizon for 4 hours till the moon had set and the sun had not risen yet. When the day broke, we realized that land was well out of sight and we tacked again with the hope of being on our way SW to Pondy. However, when land came in sight, we were disappointed to see that we had slipped back 1/3rd. of the distance and were heading to Her Majesty's Water Tanks in Nimmeli.

D.L reached Pondy on Tuesday after 31 hours of sailing (day and night) and the C.H.S returned to Chennai around 5 pm. on Tuesday.

The Return Trip:

One week later, some of the crew from C.H.S reached Pondy in the forenoon by road and set sail at 1 pm. on Monday the 17th. The boat was sailed through the night (the wind and current being favorable) ... the journey ended at 4 am. on Tuesday at the RMYC after 15 hours. This journey in contrast was a "breeze". We had huge swell (there was a depression in the Bay neat Andamans) and the rollers were so large that sailing dead down wind towards Madras saw the bow dig in and water spray into our boat. It was necessary to sail a course slightly away from the shore .... At around mid night, half way through our journey, we had a surprise passenger on board that insisted on sitting next to Chinna all the way from Mid Night till we turned into the Chennai Port around 3 am. on Tuesday (a Tern bird - circled in yellow in the picture below).

If you read this far - you've done well, thank you ! You may have more responses from the other sailors on this voyage .... If you have some questions on the next expedition ... you may be "on the right track'. When we got off the boat at RMYC jetty we were told two things (1) that we looked like starving Indian fishermen on a Sea Bird ,and (2) that the next trip was going to be be to Sri Lanka on the J 80's with wine and cheese to celebrate the sun set ... both are extraordinarily cheerful statements - recognizing my Tamil pride as a fisherman was the icing on the cake for me .... and not many can pass of cheese and wine on the deck of a beautiful J 80 with a cabin and provisions for a loo ...

Guys before I forget, I love my country and am really appreciative of all the help (and voluntary) support the staff, committee, sailors and everybody that helped gave of their own free will .... I feel proud and happy to belong to our sailing Club and the Indian Sailing Fraternity.

1. How did the boats hold out ?

   The Sea Birds at the Club are 2011 vintage and despite a reasonable wind and fully loaded (we were 4 on board) - we had absolutely no problems from the hull or fittings. It's a great boat to sail long distance ....

2. Bath room, toilet, food, ???

   On a 30 hour sail, most of us restricted ourselves to passing liquid waste either as Pee or Puke. HOWEVER, two of us were brave enough to answer natures call and Poop on board. Details and diagnosis are NOT for public consumption AND hearing this for me would be second hand news. For those who want to know the details - write in to how_to_poop_on_a_seabird@gmail.com att: Capt. Haddock/Sharma ...

3. The next voyage to Sri Lanka ... when and who to contact ?

   The J80 sailors were talking about this .... contact the Club for more details.

4. Does this kind of sailing need any training ?

   Not sure - I think if you are ready to put up with some discomfort AND CONTINUE to do work on board - it may be fine. Also, RMYC is among the few Clubs in the country to have a full time coach and to offer YAI Certification - this will help those of you who want to prepare ....

5. What is the risk while sailing off shore ?

   Actually not much. The Club staff did a great job on the boats. Some of us took specific responsibility including going to the Port/Police to intimate them, some took care of the navigation lights etc. One of our Club members provided a wireless communication system and a tracking device. Google also offers a free service of GPS tracking ... your location (as long as your phone is working) can be tracked by anyone you give the rights to. Also, even when land was out of sight - some phones had a signal

6. How were arrangements made at Pondy ?

   Over a phone call - the folk at the PSA have a little landing jetty and plenty of heart and good cheer to welcome sailors into their Port. BTW, the current Commodore of the PSA circumnavigated at age 5 in his parents boat :) He has half built a sailing Catamaran to do the same.

7. What did we carry and how useful was it ?

   There is no such thing as too many torches ... we carried more than 1 per head. We had a fishing rod, food packets, bread and sandwich making impediments .... none of this was used - we were far too tired by the end of the day and or wasted :) Carrying electrical / electronics had its own limitation, batteries under the deck to power the navigation lights is a bad idea since the spray of the ocean soaks everything. Carrying a hand held compass and tools was useful.

Click for More images

Wet & Wild Regatta Pawna - 2016
25th to 28th August

Dear Friends of the RMYC, For those of you who enjoy racing and were not at Pawna - you missed a good event. The fleet was mid sized with over 50 Optimist, almost 10 boats in the 420, Toppers, N.T's and Sail Boards. The lake at Pawna is BIG and the location and natural beauty of the land was breathtaking at first sight.

Click on image to enlarge

     

Deep and Vidya

Race commenced

Event Logo

In the 420 Class, the bearded man with his super fit crew from The Royal Madras Yacht Club finished 1st. - Mr. Deep and Ms. Vidya Rao. sailed a fantastic regatta despite the wind being less than wild ("wild" was the prediction and the beard had apparently tuned for that wind ?!). Mr. Chinna Reddy with Master Varun Srivatsan also from the RMYC finished 2nd. in the same class and the 3rd. RMYC boat that participated finished 4th. overall - we came pretty close to a hat trick in the 420 class :)

Participants from the RMYC included a Laser Radial and 4 Optimist ... all the boats that could fit in 1 truck from Madras to Pawna .... The regatta was a treat having being organized and run by a bunch of veteran sailors and their wifefriends - "passion for the sport was in the air" and in everything that they did.

Sailors from Clubs in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh were amongst those that raced. The number of boats may have exceeded 100. As competitors, one feels good to be connected to an event like this which seems to be run for the best reason possible - just to enjoy the game of sailing. The arrangements during the race were top class - the army had laid out the red carpet which ensured that the on water the racing was near perfect - fair sized courses, square start lines, adequate rescue and hot tea and samaosa's for the lucky ones that came back to shore on time :) What more can a Madrasi ask for ???

Some arbitrary picture of boats racing, medal winners, launching area, natural landscapes etc. are here for your viewing pleasure - the link on the bottom of this page are photographs are courtesy Matrioshka Media , Mr. Srivatsan and others ...

Click for More images

D.Martins Cup
Sunday, Feb 14, 2016

The Lascars Race, D Martins Cup 2016 was held on Sunday 14th February, 2016. With winds reaching 9 k, all boats started from the boat basin within 30 seconds of the 1st. boat. Vincent was leading the fleet with a crew of 4 boys and Dass rounding behind him within a boat length. The race was abandoned due to a surprise entry of INS Virrat that made an entry to the harbor. A fresh start was proposed and 3 minute signal was sounded at Roy mark. Vajrivel was leeward in clear air and the rest of us were all a mass of hull, booms and mast. We untangled our selves and the race was underway. Dass rounded first again and held the lead till the finish with Vajrivel behind them and Ramesh finishing 3rd.

At the Club the Crew of The Mahedi gave away the prizes and our Commodore Shiva and Secretary Chiddy presented the crew with the CLub's burgee (that will circumnavigate the globe on board the Mahedi). Later, some of us went on board the yacht and then to The INS Virrat

Race results:

1. Helm - Dass & Crew (WINNER)
2. Helm - Vajrivel & Crew (Ist Runner-up)
3. Helm - Ramesh & Crew (IInd Runner-up)
4. Helm - Vincent & Crew (IV Place)
5. Helm - Rajendran & Crew (V Place)
6. Helm - Ramu & Crew (VI Place)

Click on image to enlarge

                       

Boat allotment

readying the boats

Helm and crew for the Lascars race

race started in the boat basin with a bang

Spectator boat with the visitors

Briefing before the race

close on heals

Boats rounding the y1 mark

ins Virrat that made a surprise entry in the harbor

The Winners receiving the D.Martin Cup.

The lady officers crew of The Mahedi training to circumnavigate the Globe at RMYC

Commodore Shiva and Secretary Chiddy presented the Mahedi crew with the CLub's burgee

Click for More images

​Carmichael Cup, 2015
Sunday, Dec 13, 2015

The multi class Carmichael Cup, 2015 was held on Sunday 13th December, 2015 in low winds and a calm sea. Four Sea Birds and three Optimist participated in the race. Our top young sailors team, Zefra, Anahata and Satvik took out a Sea Bird for a change. Whereas most boats were struggling to get out of the first channel and start the race due to low winds; Amit managed to get a quick start. However, for a brief while after the start, Anahata and her crew almost caught up with Amit but Amit managed to get his boat moving and the widened the lead by a fair bit. Inspite of a handicap to do a 360 degree after each rounding off the mark, Amit won the race hands down by a huge lead.

The race was won by Sanjay in the Optimist category. The positions are as below:

Sea Bird:

1. Helm - Amit, Crew - Vidya (WINNER)
2. Helm - Anahata Crew - Zefra, Satvik
3. Helm - Chiddi Crew - Navaz
4. Helm - Vivek, Crew - Saravanan

OPTIMIST:

1. Sanjay (WINNER)
2. Jaffer
3. Hannah

Click on image to enlarge

                       

Bright Sun shine, low winds - Teams set out

Race begins - Amit makes a clean start

Still waters, low wind, slow race

Jaffer to himself

Amit & Vidya - Lead boat rounding y1

Zefra, Anahata & Satvik at y1 rounding

Chiddi & Navaz follow on

Vidya throwing her weight around..

The young trio close on the heels

The seniors not to be left out - Chiddi & Navaz

Sanjay - winner :optimist, nothing is too big!

Amit & Vidya - winner: seabird, deservedly...

Dufferin Cup, 2015
Sunday, Nov 29, 2015

The Dufferin Cup which was to be held previously was held on Sunday, 29th November , 2015. The Club was filled with children from RMYC, Royal Bombay Yacht Club and Hyderabad Club who had just then completed the India International Regatta.

Due to rough sea conditions, the race was restricted to bigger boats, the two J80s and two Sea Birds. Vivek Shanbag and his crew took the cup in the J80s class, inspite of major strategies adopted by Deep Rekhi and his crew. Vivek put all the kids in the cabin to give some pressure on the bow and won the race hands down even though he had to stop midway during the race to pick up the Harley Davidson crew.

Sarvanan and his crew, Rajkumar won the cup in the Sea Bird class against Amit and his crew. Course was Club, Y1 and back to Club. The results are as follows:

J80s :

1. Helm - Vivek Shanbag Crew - 6 children from Royal Bombay Yacht Club, Suri, three members of Harley Davidson Club and our club staff. WINNER
2. Helm - Deep Rekhi , Crew - Navaz, Vidya, Rohan (RBYC), Varun, Sanjay, Jaffer.

Sea Bird:

1. Helm - Saravanan , Crew - Rajkumar WINNER
2. Helm - Amit Kalra and Crew of one person

Click on image to enlarge

       

Fairly clear skies, inviting a good race

J80s being redied for the challenge

Storm playing spoil sport.

Making the best of the rain

Sunday 22nd November, 2015

The whole of last week, Chennai faced incessant rains followed by flooding in several areas. But RMYC sailors, Varun and Sanjay faced the weather and continued to train under Chinna Reddy everyday for the India International Regatta (IIR) scheduled to be held on the 25th of November,2015 to 29th of November, 2015. The club staff came early every day and took good care of the boats and ensured that there were no damage to the boats.

RMYC is proud to inform that the Club took part in the rescue operations in the city along with the Indian Navy. RMYC rescue boats and staff participated in the rescue vigorously. RMYC members too did their bit and donated food, clothing and other materials worth about Rs.2,00,000/- for the flood affected victims.

This Sunday the club saw around 18 kids from different parts of the country cast off at 9 AM for training under our Coach Chinna Reddy for the IIR. The scheduled Tinsdeal Memorial Cup- Bangalore Regatta could not be held due to bad weather and tumultuous sea conditions. Hence, the club sailors Navaz, Jaffer, Deep, Vidya, Saravanan and Rajkumar went out on practice session in two 420s and an Enterprise. The date will be announced later.

Carmichael Cup, 2015
Sunday, Nov 15, 2015

One more wet and windy Sunday on 15/11/2015 at RMYC but that did not dampen our kids Varun, Sanjay and Chinna from training within the harbour for the IIR Regatta. Other than our crew, no other crew braved the sea. Jayachandran and I guided by Vincent sailed the Sea Bird within the harbour. As you can see all of us enjoyed sailing in the hard rain. The scheduled Carmichael Cup series has been postponed due to bad weather and the date will be intimated later.

Click on image to enlarge

       

Varun & Sanjay "training in the rain".

Varun & Sanjay venturing out.

Sanjay honing his sailing skills.

Inspired by the kids Vidya and Jayachandran prepare to sail the seabird

Dufferin Cup, 2015
Sunday, Nov 08, 2015

The scheduled Dufferin Cup race could not be held due to bad weather conditions. Morning winds were around 18 knots and gust 22 knots and increased to 30 knots as the day progressed. Chinna & Abimanyu trained our kids, Varun and Sanjay in front of the club during the first half of the day. TNSA kids were also training. All of us had great fun getting wet in the rain as you can see from the pictures. No sooner did the kids return to the Club, suddenly there was a big storm as is seen from the videos sent by Rajkumar to the RMYC Whats App group and Chinna to the J 80's Whats App group.

Click on image to enlarge

         

Chinna & Abimanu training our kids before the storm

Vidya taking on the storm single handed in a row boat.

Storm playing spoil sport.

Making the best of the rain

Lascars at work, after the rains lashed post lunch on 8/11/2015.

Alexander Cup 2015
Sunday, Nov 01, 2015

Many regulars did not show-up for this race may be due to the rain. 5 Boats participated in this race. The fleet comprised of the following:

1. 420 - Helm, Deep Rekhi, Crew Vidya
2. 420 - Helm, Aditya, Crew Sundar Muthu
3. ENTERPRISE - Helm Ramesh, Crew Sumana
4. SEABIRD - Helm Saravanan , Crew Preethi, Chitra, Rishika
5. SEABIRD - Helm Navaz, Crew Sanjay, Hanah, Jayachandran, Jaffer, Arvind

Only the ENTERPRISE and the Deep's 420 completed the course, the rest did not complete the race due to inclement weather. The winner of-course is Deep Rekhi and Vidya.

Click on image to enlarge

             

420 class boat - Aditya Krishna at the helm with Sundar Muthu as crew

Navaz helming the Sea Bird with his standard young crew at Y1 rounding.

Ramesh helming the Enterprise with Sumana as Crew

Aditya Krishna rounding the Y1 Mark

Ramesh & Sumana heading out on the beat

Saravanan heading out of the inner harbour

All boats ready at start line

As Navaz would like to put it - The lawyer (Vidya) with a 420 (Deep Rekhi)

INS Adyar Cup 2015
Sunday, Oct 25, 2015

The fleet comprised of 1 opti. 3 sea birds. 2 boat of 420. 1 nt. 1 Omega and 1 laser & 1 J80s. The positions at the end of the 2 hour race was as follows:

1. 420 - Helm, Deep Rekhi, Crew Vidya
2. OPTIMIST - Sanjay
3. OMEGA -Helm, Navaz, Crew Saravanan, Preethi, Jaffer
4. LASER 4.7 - Varun
5. SEABIRD - Helm Chiddi, Crew Jayachandran
6. 420 - Helm Sundu, Crew Abishek, Ramesh
7. SEABIRD - Helm, Rajukumar, Crew Ravi
8. J80 - Helm Vivek, Crew Abishek

Click on image to enlarge

               

Chidambaram helming the Sea Bird with Jayachandran as crew

The Winners - Deep at the helm and Vidya on the wire sailing the 420.

ins adyar cup

Brave sanjay on the opti has just been taken by the 420 team.

Navaz and the team on the omega

Varun on his laser 4.7 just trailing behind Navaz on the Omega

The J 80 team with Capt. Shanbag at the helm, Abishek & others as crew

Navaz and the team on the final run

Commodore Claudius Cup
Sunday, Oct 18, 2015

The fleet comprised of 2 opti. 3 sea birds. 1 boat of 420. 1 nt. 1 Omega and 1 laser. Varun sailing the Laser was leading from the start. He finished First followed by the 2 opti sailors Hanna and Sanjay.

RMYC sailors are at it again...
Laser Nationals-Mumbai 2012

At the just concluded Laser Nationals in Mumbai (part of 'Festival of Sails'), RMYC had a terrific medal haul:

Riding the waves royally for more than a century
THE TIME OF INDIA, CHENNAI / MONDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2012

Manish Raj TNN
Chennai: The sails are aligned and the ropes are bound, when a gust of wind sweeps the boat towards the sea. Capt Vivek Shanbhag glances at the fluttering ‘telltale,’ a thin thread used to gauge wind direction and speed, and says, “The wind speed is 10 knots, or roughly 7 km per hour, which will take an hour to reach Tiruvanmiyur beach.” ...more