The 3rd edition of the Unifi Capital Offshore Regatta, featuring the J80 sailboats, will be held from May 1 to 5, between Chennai and Mahabalipuram.
Capt. Vivek Shanbhag, RMYC said, “The boats are being provided with satellite trackers from Elektronik Labs for continuous coverage. The public can view this race from anywhere in the world on the www.trackanything.in website. The username is ‘rmyc’ and the password is ‘offshore’. This regatta will conform to the safety standards of World Sailing.”
The event will be flagged off at 9.30 am, May 1. The chief guest at the event will be Dr Atulya Misra IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Ministry of Youth Welfare & Sports Development Department. Dr. Malini V Shankar IAS, VC of IMU will be the guest of honour. Also present at the flagging off will be heads from the Indian Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Sports Ministry TN, Chennai Port and Yachting Association of India.
The four J80 class sailboats – the most popular boats in the world – will race first between Chennai Port and Mahabalipuram and back, a distance of 50 km each way, and should take about a total of around 10 hours. They then race between Chennai Port and Kamarajar Port, a distance of 20 km each leg, and will take a total of around 5 hours.
The race commences from the Club inside the Chennai Port Trust. The Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy are providing support and logistics for a safe event.
Prominent participants:
● Commander Abhilash Tomy – The solo non-stop circumnavigator of the globe in 236 days; winner of second place in the Golden Globe Race 2022.
● Murugan Nadar – Ranked 3rd at the World Championship 2019 in Spain in the Mixed Category.
● Chinna Reddy – Winner of national championships and gold at the Sail the Gulf International Regatta, Qatar.
● Ayaz Shaikh – National champion; won gold at the Qatar Regatta.
● AN Swami – Has been in the winning team at both the earlier Unifi Capital Offshore Regattas.
The event is under the aegis of the Yachting Association of India (YAI) and organised by the National J/80 Class Association (NJCA), Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC) and the Royal Madras Yacht Club Ennore Centre (RMYC EC).
