Festival of Sails Kicks off in Mumbai

Welcome to the Festival of Sails, Mumbai 2012

This is a festival of sailing events to be conducted in Mumbai harbour from the 18th of December to the 25th of December.
The Festival of Sails is an annual event, and 2012 is the first edition.

A word about Sailing

• Sailing is an eco friendly sport. No pollution, no noise.
  
• Racing and Cruising for all - Mumbaiʼs youngest 8 years old, our oldest over 80.
  
• Shorefront water activity - promotes tourism, transport, economic activity.
  
• Sailing bonds people from disparate economic and social backgrounds.
  
  What is the Festival of Sails?
  

• The Festival of Sails is a series of racing events conducted by Sailing clubs, and under a common banner - The Festival of Sails.
  
• The waters around Mumbai are the cityʼs largest natural and open space. Yet, the city remains unappreciative of this inheritance.
  
• The Festival of Sails seeks to engage the city with these waters and waterfront spaces in a meaningful and eco-friendly way.
  
• The Festival of Sails, with support of both private and public bodies, seeks to promote Mumbai as a 21st century city.
  
  Meet our Sailors
  

• Captain Soli Contractor
  
• Commodore Surinder Mongia
  
• Captain Homi Motivala
  
• Commander Farokh Tarapore
  
• Commander Aashim Mongia
  
• Nitin Mongia
  
• G.L. Yadav
  

Many of our sailors are World and Asian Games medal winners as well as Olympians.

Festival Of Sails 2012

• In 2012 we will have four races

Race 1 - The 420 Harbour Cup

Venue: The INWTC 
Date: Dec 19 - 21

420 Sailboat is a planing (wave Skimming) sailboat of 4.2-meter length. It is equipped with a three sails, and a trapeze crew, which means that the crew is attached to the boat by way of a system of harnesses and lines, and is often "outside" the boat. This is a fast, high performance boat, and is exciting to watch in action.

The Mumbai Harbour cup is an annual event that will be held in Mumbai. It was last held in 2009.

Race 2. The INWTC Mumbai Match Racing Cup 

Venue: The INWTC.
Date: Dec 19 - 20

Match Racing is to Sailing what T20 is to Cricket.

Match Racing, unlike fleet racing is a sailing event featuring two sailboats on a small course. The principal idea of Match racing is to attack the opponent, and force him into a series of errors. Match racing is the perfect combination sailing skills and chess like tactics. It is a short, intense, extreme and highly competitive. Match Racing as a sport is practically as old as the America's Cup (which also follows the Match Racing Format) - the oldest continuous sporting championship of any sort in the world.

The INWTC (Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre) has hosted several Match Racing events in the city. The class of sailboat chosen is the J24. The J24 is a near seven and a half metre boat, with a crew of 4 to 5. It is a popular boat worldwide, sailed in 140 countries and by over 150 fleets. It is a fast, exciting boat, good for racing, cruising and day sailing. Its contemporary design makes it an ideal platform for match racing.

The INWTC Match Racing Cup will be held at the INWTC facility, Navy Nagar, Colaba with an expected participation of 15 Teams.

Race 3 - The Laser Coastal National Championship

Venue: The INWTC. 
Date: Dec 21 - 25

The Laser is a single crew sailing boat, measuring 4.2 meters in length with a single sail and modern sail controls. Being one of the most popular boats sailed around the world, there are over 2,50,000 Lasers in the world today. The Laser is an Olympics Class Dinghy.
The Laser Coastal National Sailing Championship is an annual national regatta. In 2011 it was held in Mumbai and hosted jointly by the Royal Bombay Yacht Club and the Army Yachting Node. At that event, there were approximately 70 participants.

Race 4 - Away all Sails 

Venue: The Gateway of India. 
Date: Dec 25

The Away all Sails is the flagship event of the Multi class regatta. This is a fun, colourful event, with maximum participation as it is open to all forms of sailboats and windsurf boards. All crafts race on a single course, with staggered race starts. Classes of boats participating can number up to 10, from the tiny optimist to large, multi crew yachts.

The expected number of craft will be in excess of 100 - from the tiny 32Kg Optimist Class for children as young as 8 years old, to the Ocean going “A” Class yachts weighing over 10 tons! This will make for a colourful and festive sight on the cityʼs waterfront.
Expected Participation - more than 100 Teams

www.festivalofsails.in

The Mumbai Festival of Sails is the collective voice of the widest body of city sailors and civilian sailing clubs.

We have come together to form the Festival of Sails Trust (under registration).
We are supported by the Royal Bombay Yacht Club (RBYC), The Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC), the Army Yachting Node (AYN), The Bomaby Sailing Association (BSA) and the Colaba Sailing Club (CSC).

This is our contribution in the effort to make Mumbai a 21st Century city.

The Festival of Sails is made possible thanks to our Sponsors and Host clubs.