Make Sailing the New Normal

Like most parents, I insisted on my son, Alok trying out a multitude of sports as a schoolboy. For one summer, I had him wake up early every weekend to go sailing Optimists at the Naval Sailing Club. This was a short-lived endeavour run by the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. 

Years later, now hooked onto sailing, I often wonder why it never crossed my mind to learn the ropes with him!?

My initiation to sailing was through Dilip. Thanks to his SagarParikrama project, whenever he could get his hands on a boat that floated, he sailed. Sometimes, I got invited aboard. Those initial sails were embarrassing. I got tossed around like a rag doll, my legs turned to jelly and my hands became wood. There would usually be a host of people on board and most of them would look quizzically as I rolled around on deck, like an out of control domino! What kept me going though, was that I was never sea-sick. 

Determined to learn the ropes, I signed up with Ayesha Lobo at Discover Sailing. She had me handling her J24 within a few sessions. Her infectious laughter and easy confidence had me sailing independently in a month.


On moving to Goa, my new employer encouraged us to join sailing classes with the Goa Yachting Association to build team spirit. They had me rigging and sailing smaller boats, including Toppers.

Soon, I was sailing with the Tarini crew too. However, I was limited to short sorties on weekends and chafed at the fact that I was a civilian in a Naval world. 

Or so I thought, till Dilip pointed me towards the Clipper Round the World Race. Started by the World’s first solo circumnavigator, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, this race is organized every other year. I signed up for the 2017-18 Race, to crew on the leg from Punta del Este, Uruguay to Cape Town, South Africa. (Read more about this in my Clipper blog).



Every crew member goes through 4 weeks of training at Gosport, UK. An intense, comprehensive course, it equips you with the basics of safe sailing. The skills I learned then have been of immense help not just on Antara, but more immediately when we got rammed by a whale in the Atlantic Ocean!

Completing the Clipper Race leg on my birthday, I have since continued to sail, and between Clipper and Antara have about 7,500 nm under my belt.

With Antara, you now have the opportunity to sail, safe in Covid times - on a large sailboat, along the coast, in the deep blue yonder! You decide and we'll design a sail just for you. 

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