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Dell Program - 15th May 2010
Dell India and Intel in association with Sport 18 and Aquasail
The participation of over 60 guests saw the successful opening of the second customer engagement program organized by Dell India and Intel in association with Sport 18 and Aquasail.
Participants were ferried across to the Aquasail Center in Mandwa where a range of water activities ranging from yacht sailing and dinghy sailing to windsurfing and kayaking were waiting on the warm and sandy Mandwa beach.
After being divided into two groups all the guests starting heading straight for the beach and the yacht sailing group was immediately transferred to their respective boats. As soon as they had their sails unfurled the beach group took to the water with a variety of sailing dinghies like the Laser Funboats, Hobie Bravo, Laser Pico and the highlight Hobie Cat 15. Just when they thought it was over, our expert instructors introduced Kayaking and Windsurfing and there begun a long count of flips, rolls and turns.
After a long session, the groups swapped and everyone was enjoying a whole new set of water activities now. Soon it was time to head back to the Center and feast on a local cuisine.
Citibank Regatta - 16th May 2010
Aquasail, in association with Citibank organized a fun filled regatta series aboard Aquasail fleet of high powered racing yachts. The racing was made extremely easy with the involvement of our highly experienced and qualified skippers who made this possibly. The set of races were contested in moderate weather conditions with wind strengths of about 8 – 10 knots and heavy ebbing Tidal conditions made it very difficult for the participants and guests to even start the race. The skippers pitched in with their experience of the local tidal conditions and spearheaded the first leg of the race.
Most legs were highly competitive until the very end as boats were placed no more than a foot from one another at all times.
Race two and three followed along in a similar manner with consistent weather conditions throughout. This came to an end with a memorable finish to the Citibank Regatta series and a satisfied group of participants and guests.
Fullerton India – 11th May 2010
Fullerton India and Aquasail came together for its first ever corporate team building event. After the team enjoyed a fun ride across to the Aquasail Training Center in Mandwa – Alibaug, the sand and sea itself quenched their thirst in the mid summer sunny day. The team was firstly divided in four teams consisting of 6 members each and they were handed over to their respective instructors who guided their teams towards the beach activities. They first started the beach activities like board balancing, kayak racing and finally some dinghy sailing to top up the fun. The teams were then transferred to the respective Beneteau First Class racing yachts where they took to yacht racing and their 45 minute learn to sail session almost immediately.
The practice session had come to and end and all the participants had tried their hand at steering the boat, controlling the main sail and trimming the fore sail of their boats all in all trying to successfully completely basic sailing drills like tacking and jybing while doing the same. The weather conditions were extremely high and all the team members were kept hopping on their feet at all times whilst learning to start and race their boats. There was a series of 3 races which were heavily contested and boats were sailing with an eagle’s eye around the course in order to maintain control in the heavy weather condition.
Finally it was the high levels of determination amongst all the team members from all the boats to start the races and perform which in turn made it such a spectacular. Once again Aquasail has seen the likes of first timers who have never sailed a boat before in their life take to the water and achieve something only a handful have the opportunity to grasp.
Our sincere thanks to Fullerton India for making this event such a valued success.
Kids Camp 4th to 6th May - Aquasail Training Center, Mandwa (Alibaug)
Aquasail first ever kids summer sailing camp exclusively for kids saw the participation for Mumbai’s young wannabe sailors on water. The camp was organized over a period of 3 days and all the kids including their instructors found every second spent together as one to be cherished in their memories for a long time.
After a first day of basic sailing and windsurfing skills all the kids were comfortably sailing their respective boats and in no time so became a part of it that it was quiet a task for the instructors to take them off the water.
The second day a more comprehensive and first session of sailing with various details like tacking, jybing and capsizing drills. The kids completely fearlessly capsized their boats over and over again to practice their drills.
On the final day, it was the instructors turn to sit back and relax as all the kids had grown their sailor’s legs and some were actually trying basic windsurfing freestyle moves on their Starboard Surfing boards, while the rest were taken into more advanced skills like sail trimming roll tacking and basic boat to boat pacing.
Thomson Reuters Bankers Regatta
For the first time in our country bankers will come together on one deck and set their sails for this highly awaited event. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Thomson Reuters for their extensive support in organizing this event. The first time in India bankers from all over learned to sail and eventually race internationally acclaimed performance racing yachts on the challenging waters of the Mumbai Harbour.
Across the globe, sailing has proved its worth as a great networking platform on various occasions. The regatta is hence a great way to introduce people to this great recreational activity of sailing and sailboat racing.
The Regatta was contested in moderate sailing conditions in the Mumbai Harbour. About 30 contestants were divided across 4 Beneteau First Class 7.5 racing yachts through a series of 3 races. Extremely good teamwork and tactical racing among all the teams demonstrated some really close contested races amongst all the four boats.
Race 1 begun in high tidal conditions where the boats had to constantly alter course and maneuver closely in order to position for a perfect start. A similar scenario was witnessed among the all four boats in the 2nd and 3rd race as well. The racing per say was even more exciting as many close quarter situations and incidents between random boats at all times. Nobody, not even those with a sailor’s eye could figure out who the end winner would be.
‘Wind Runner’ proved to be the overall winner leading team shock wave by only a margin of 1 point between them.
Forbes India Aquasail Regatta - 24th April, 1st, 2nd and 8th May
Event Overview |
The first ever corporate regatta in India was concluded this month. Consisting of 9 series of 2 to 3 races each the regatta had corporate leaders taking the helm and racing Aquasails sporty and high performance Beneteau 7.5s, the exciting and pulsating event was conducted over 4 days spread over 3 weeks and structured in line with international regatta guidelines.
Each race had teams of 6 first timers and 1 professional instructor from Aquasail. Each team had 40 minutes to learn to sail and race before getting into the race themselves.
Weather conditions
The course: The regattas are structured parallel to international formats and teams are required to race around a triangle course. This includes technical challenges like sailing against the direction of the wind in the first leg of the race, tactical decisions when negotiating the course buoys and opposition boats and perfect timing to get the best start and tactically manoeuvre your boat around the race course. The racing was conducted on board Aquasail’s fleet of Beneteau 7.5 (25 feet) yachts, which are designed specifically for one design racing.
24th April: The racing was high energy and closely contested, under the control of committee and jury boats. The lighter winds of about 7 knots and tidal strength of a 2.5 meter strong flood tide in the 1st session required superb sail trimming and tactical awareness of the tide direction. Sanjay Razdan – M.D: Capita, Deepak Jain – V.P: , Sanjeev Agarwal – Chairman: Bombay Talkies, Zaki Arab - Senior Sales Consultant: Mercedes-Benz, and Faridoon Gamadia – Proprietor: Classic Concepts aboard “Storm Rider” were the winners of the first regatta after demonstrating good boat speed and effectively anticipating the effect of the tide on their direction. “Aquasail is proud to bring in a truly international regatta format into India. This is a great way to introduce corporate India to the joy and thrill of sailing.” – Shakeel Kudrolli: Director - Aquasail (Race Committee – Forbes India Aquasail Regatta)
In the afternoon the wind picked up for the second session and the racing became faster with the teams concentrating on keeping their boats flat and under power, using their bodyweight and sail controls. The racing was close quartered with Samrat Jain, Khoobi Jain, Vivek Chowdhary, Shariq Contractor – Partner: CNK India, Sakib Maskati and Kaushik Chakravorty again aboard ‘Storm Rider’ emerging victorious.
May 1st: The second event on 1st May saw aggressive, yet controlled racing amongst the closely matched teams in good wind conditions. The strong tide on the day provided challenges, particularly at the start line. In keeping with international racing rules a general recall was called and all boats had to come back to onto the start line since all the boats were on the course side (O.C.S) before the actual start signal and had crossed the line early due to heavy tidal conditions. After this quick general recall the race was restarted providing a fantastic firsthand experience for sailors who could appreciate the need for tight control in extreme racing situations. The race was a gladiators contest between all the teams especially ‘Storm Rider’ and ‘Thunder Flash’. All the boats were perfectly rigged after a tightly contested first regatta. There was a slight variation in wind and tidal conditions, which gave the racing a whole new dimension as boats constantly tacked and cross over each other in an attempt to play some boat to boat tactics towards the finish line.
Boats were placed with not more than a couple of feet to spare between each other on the start line in heart stopping close quarter situations. All boats started close but leaving safe distance between each other and gave the regatta a demonstration of extremely challenging set of races.
May 2nd: The third event took place at Mandwa and the wind speeds of up to 18 knots combined with the longer fetch across the Bombay harbour, creating large swells of up to a metre made for some challenging conditions. With their sails trimmed as flat as possible to de-power the rigs, each team was concentrating on keeping their boats flat and maintaining speed through the rough seas. Several incidents between competing boats especially ‘Storm Rider’ and ‘Thunder Flash’ saw the appearance of black protest flags and the jury boat was kept busy all afternoon.
The winning team aboard “Wind Runner” sailed by wives of CEO’s including Mamta Malhotra, Simmi Jain, Mona Jain – Mobile2win, Chhaya Batra, Anna Assisi, Seema Jain – Director MTP Systems and Nandini Chaurasia managed to keep their boat under complete control in the tough conditions of wind speeds upto 14 knots to prove, that yacht racing is not just for men.
May 8th: Final Day Regatta: 8th May, the final day was another display of team preparation, high determination to win and tactically powered sailing amongst all the boats. What looked like a close first race soon came to an end with the winners being team aboard “Thunder Flash” Surendra Kapur – Director: Kapur Resorts, Mrs. Kapur - Onwer: Kapur Resorts, Bhushan Sethi – Head Global operations: Patni Computers, Vipul Varma – Director: Focus Management Pvt Ltd, Tanay Varma - Director: Focus Management Pvt Ltd, and Sachin Singhvi- Partner: Mehta Singhvi and Associates. The second session started in moderate wind conditions of about 8 knots and tidal strength of 1 meter with boats tuned, trimmed and tracked in place for the final races in the regatta. The race was underway as four tremendously competitive boats shot off the start line in a picture perfect formation. ‘Thunder Flash’ was quickly in the lead with both ‘Shock Wave’ and ‘Storm Rider’ grappling forward in good pace. The final leg saw ‘Storm Rider’ taking the lead over both the boats and heading towards the finish line after a smart tactical move given the highly shifty winds in the previous upwind leg. The Second session was thus won by ‘Storm Rider’ sailed by Manju & Ashok Mahindra: Director. Tawer Insurance & Reinsurance, Prashant Bhansali: Director.Mehta Equities Ltd, Chetan Sanghvi: Sr.V.P. HSBC, Ronita Mitra: Sr.G.M.ICICI and Vinay Bhatia: V.P. Marketing. Shoppers stop Ltd.
“It was indeed a pioneering set of races which in turn has set a high benchmark for corporate regattas for future yacht racing in India. The overwhelming attendance at every single event made it all the more rewarding. Many are already looking forward to next season with a bigger Fleet of boats ready to harness the power of nature and unfurl a new sensation.” – Shakeel Kudrolli: Director - Aquasail (Race Committee – Forbes India Aquasail Regatta)
Indusland Teambuilding Program - 27th April 2010
From a stressful office environment to a day or sheer fun and excitement, the Indusland team certainly enjoyed the Aquasail Team building program. After a long, yet joyful ferry ride with the likes of a guitarist and an interesting session about details on the Mumbai harbour, the participants finally reached the Aquasail Taining Center in Mandwa – Alibaug.
A warm and satisfactory breakfast was awaiting their arrival, but the team was eager to set foot on the beach as soon as possible. Within half an hour of refreshments and relaxation, the participants gathered around the training section for a quick brief on the day’s schedule followed shortly by a safety brief.
They were then divided into their respective teams with one instructor allotted to each of the groups. As soon as they went off to the beach a wide range of beach games and water activities were already set in place. Teams had to challenge each other on in board balancing. Soon graduated to kayak polo and finally tried their hand at some casual beach sailing on Aquasail’s fleet of beach dinghies.
After a while, the beach activities came to a halt and everyone was transferred to their respective Beneteau 7.5 racing yachts. After a quick session in basic sailing skills, all the teams under their instructor’s guidance prepared themselves for a tacking dual. Most managed to successfully complete their tacks in less than 15 seconds while others quickly got into the groove.
The tacking match soon came to an end which introduced the racing session soon after. 3 races were organized in moderate wind conditions and a prefect course was set to get things going. Every race saw a perfect start followed by some close quarter sailing and tight race finishes.
The day came to an end with a short de-brief and a quick ferry ride back to Gateway. |
Aquasail Splash Program - 25th April 2010
Aquasail gave the participants a chance to experience a more relaxed, fun side of sailing. They loved the warm water, taking every chance to get wet with many capsize drills!
Off the water was also a lot of fun with a guitarist, fun quizzes and games for the kids.
As usual the on water activities were made extremely memorable by the Beneteau yachts and Beach dinghies. Participants were craving to have a go at the Windsurf boards and beach kayaks.
Tata Power Family Splash Program – 17th April 2010
Employees along with their family and friends enjoyed a fun filled splash program at the Aquasail training center in Alibaug at Mandwa beach. Each and every participant had an experience of a lifetime as none of them had ever stepped on a boat before.
For most, especially kids, the sheer joy of swimming in the sea was more then enough. This was instantly topped off by a ride on the Beneteau First Class 7.5 yachts and a variety of other beach activities like sailing on beach dinghies, kayaks or trying out the windsurfing equipment under the guidance of a certified member of staff.
Aquasail Splash Program - 28th March 2010
Aquasail gave the participants a chance to experience a more relaxed, fun side of sailing. They loved the warm water, taking every chance to get wet with many capsize drills!
Off the water was also a lot of fun with a guitarist and fun quizzes.
As usual the on water activities were made extremely memorable by the Beneteau yachts and Beach dinghies. Participants were craving to have a go at the Windsurf boards and beach kayaks.
Thomas Cook Indulgence Regatta - 27th March 2010
Womens Day at Aquasail - 8th March 2010
Aquasail organized its second ever Women’s day celebration series onboard the Beneteau First Class 7.5 racing yachts in a series of races near the Mumbai harbor.
This event saw the participation of over 50 women from various parts of the city. No matter where they came from, what they did, what the age, these women proved that sailing is certainly not another sport just for men.
Aquasail Splash Program - 28th February 2010
Aquasail organized yet another perfect event at the Aquasail Beach Centre in Mandwa, Alibaug with a fun splash program for the entire family and friends. Everyone was in a holiday mood and arrived at Gateway of India in the morning ready to enjoy the day.
The kayaks and Windsurf boards were a big hit. One and all enjoyed the independence of being able to kayak in the easy to handle Odyssey’s without an instructor. The adventurous, enjoyed the thrill of taking the first steps towards learning to windsurf and loved getting wet in the process!
Old favourites such as the Hobie 15 Catamaran and the Beneteau 7.5 Keelboat’s were still popular. Despite the new watersports on offer we could see that Aquasailor’s will always love sailing!
This day really did provide something for everyone. A full day of activity for the energetic and a beautiful, calming base for those wanting to relax with their friends and family, admire the scenery and enjoy great food. As usual one comment we kept hearing was how great it was to simply arrive at Gateway of India with your family knowing that for the rest of the day Aquasail will look after their every need.
Our next splash programme will be held on Sunday 28th February. Make sure to book early so that you don’t miss out.
Colgate Team building - 15th January 2010
From a stressful office environment to a day or sheer fun and excitement, the Colgate team certainly enjoyed the Aquasail Team building program. After a long, yet joyful ferry ride with the likes of a guitarist and an interesting session about details on the Mumbai harbour, the participants finally reached the Aquasail Taining Center in Mandwa – Alibaug.
A warm and satisfactory breakfast was awaiting their arrival, but the team was eager to set foot on the beach as soon as possible. Within half an hour of refreshments and relaxation, the participants gathered around the training section for a quick brief on the day’s schedule followed shortly by a safety brief.
They were then divided into their respective teams with one instructor allotted to each of the groups. As soon as they went off to the beach a wide range of beach games and water activities were already set in place. Teams had to challenge each other on in board balancing. Soon graduated to kayak polo and finally tried their hand at some casual beach sailing on Aquasail’s fleet of beach dinghies.
After a while, the beach activities came to a halt and everyone was transferred to their respective Beneteau 7.5 racing yachts. After a quick session in basic sailing skills, all the teams under their instructor’s guidance prepared themselves for a tacking dual. Most managed to successfully complete their tacks in less than 15 seconds while others quickly got into the groove.
The tacking match soon came to an end which introduced the racing session soon after. 3 races were organized in moderate wind conditions and a prefect course was set to get things going. Every race saw a perfect start followed by some close quarter sailing and tight race finishes.
The day came to an end with a short de-brief and a quick ferry ride back to Gateway.
Reliance Brand Managers Event - 29th December 2009
Brand managers from Reliance came together under one sail to take part in Aquasail’s Team building program. After the team enjoyed a fun ride across to the Aquasail Training Center in Mandwa – Alibaug, the sand and sea itself quenched their thirst in the mid summer sunny day. The team was firstly divided in four teams consisting of 6 members each and they were handed over to their respective instructors who guided their teams towards the beach activities. They first started the beach activities like board balancing, kayak racing and finally some dinghy sailing to top up the fun. The teams were then transferred to the respective Beneteau First Class racing yachts where they took to yacht racing and their 45 minute learn to sail session almost immediately.
The practice session had come to and end and all the participants had tried their hand at steering the boat, controlling the main sail and trimming the fore sail of their boats all in all trying to successfully completely basic sailing drills like tacking and jybing while doing the same. The weather conditions were extremely high and all the team members were kept hopping on their feet at all times whilst learning to start and race their boats. There was a series of 3 races which were heavily contested and boats were sailing with an eagle’s eye around the course in order to maintain control in the heavy weather condition.
Finally it was the high levels of determination amongst all the team members from all the boats to start the races and perform which in turn made it such a spectacular. Once again Aquasail has seen the likes of first timers who have never sailed a boat before in their life take to the water and achieve something unique.
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