Smooth sailing

Sailing matches, like golf tournaments, aren't spectator-friendly sporting events, but nobody can deny that fluttering sailboats gently manipulating the waters is a winning sight on a cool, clear winter morning.

To introduce Indians to the joys of watching sailing races comes an abridged version of standard fleet racing, called match racing. "At a fraction of the standard duration, match racing is really the Twenty20 of sailing events," says Ashim Mongia, himself an expert sailor and one of the promoters of India's first ever such event.

Ten teams, six of which are international, have gathered at Mumbai for the Provogue Mumbai International Match Race. Most of them have never sailed off India's coast before and the excitement of that seems to rival the promise held by the $4,000 prize money.

Participation was determined on the basis of rankings declared by the International Sailing Federation. Match racing has separate rankings from fleet racing, and the top 10 are typically participants that sail the Americas Cup. This event did well, in its debut, to attract competitors as high as rank 15.

Match racing consists of two identical boats racing against each other along a stipulated course. The event runs like a round-robin league, where everybody sails against each other, then, based on points earned, proceed to subsequent rounds.

This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics, according to Mongia, and not necessarily about getting to the finish line as fast as possible, as in a fleet race. In a match race the winning team only needs to get to the finish just before its opponent, all the while trying to maintain tight coverage and prompting the opponent to draw fouls.

By virtue of the cut-off in participant numbers, the fact that races are short (each lasts 15 minutes) and fast-paced and take place closer to the shore, audience participation is generally higher than in fleet racing. "Fleet racing can have up to 40 entries and few can follow what's happening there," says Mongia.

Truth be known, though, it isn't easy to figure out the stratagem at play, even when you're on a specially assigned speedboat trailing the two competitors, as we were. But at least there are clear winners for each race (the pumping of fists is telling).

Participant R Mahesh who, along with Mongia and fellow Arjuna awardee, Olympian and two-time world champion Farokh Tarapore have masterminded the event, says the four-minute period before the start is key to gain whatever positioning advantage you can give yourself. "At worst, you want an even start," he says.

Mahesh has almost stopped participating in fleet races. "Match racing is undeniably more fun and fast paced," he explains. "Besides, the costs associated are less because the boats are provided to each participant." Since in match racing only identical boats are used, the boats should perform identically on all points of sail; any difference in performance is attributed to the skill of the crew.

We wonder if this form of sailing has been designed to accommodate the waning attention span of sports lovers (à la Twenty20), but Mongia tells us that it's actually a 100-year-old form. It's only recently, however, that formal guidelines and rules have been laid down (Canada Cup is the top event). And did you know that sailing has won India the maximum medals in international sporting events? (Mongia, an Arjuna awardee, is a regular contributor.)

In fact, Mongia has been spearheading the growth of the leisure boating and sporting industry. "I live and breathe the sport," he laughs. His yacht management consultancy West Coast Marine imports and custom-builds sailboats, and he is in one of the consortiums planning Mumbai's first marina. "The biggest stumbling block is the lack of infrastructural facilities," he laments. "We must have a marina so that people can step out of their cars and jump into their boats."

Meanwhile, you can't fault him on ambition. Plans are in place to take this event to Chennai and Hyderabad and move it up from a classified Grade 3 to a Grade 1 event in three years. Finding patrons to share his vision, he realises, will not be easy. Even though for this event the Navy generously donated the J24-class boats and managed to attract corporate sponsors like Provogue and Tag Heuer, Mongia is dejected that sponsorship wasn't sufficient for live telecasts all along Marine Drive. "Lifestyle brands would benefit tremendously from the association with a lifestyle sport such as sailing," he says. The world over, luxury brands like Omega, Rolex and Louis Vuitton are associated with the sport.

Among the visitors, Andrey Arbuzov from Russia and Ellegast Tino from Germany, ranked 15th and 40th in the world, are the top contenders for the event. "The visiting teams have been pleased with the quality of the event," claims Mahesh. The weather too is doing its bit. Through the event, wind speeds have held between four and 12 knots, ideal for sailing.

While everybody's holding their breath for a surprise Indian win, Mongia is thinking bigger and better: "The Americas cup won't be coming to India any time soon but the aim is to get an Indian team into it in the next two years."