Royal Madras YC Wins UNIFI CAPITAL J/80 Offshore Regatta

ByStuart Johnstone
Sailboats on a calm lake under blue sky.


Wired logo with a pixelated design.

(Chennai, India)- The fourth edition of the Unifi Capital Offshore Regatta was held between 12th and 16th May 2025 in the Bay of Bengal, India. The event was held under the aegis of the Yachting Association of India (YAI), the national sailing body. It was organized by the Royal Madras Yacht Club, the India J/80 Class Association, the Royal Madras Yacht Club, and the Royal Mysore Sailing Club. The title sponsor was UNIFI CAPITAL- a specialized portfolio management company.

The teams were divided into the Main fleet (five teams) and the Green Fleet (four teams). The Main fleet races were from Chennai (India) to Mahabalipuram (Sri Lanka) and back covering a total distance of 100 kms. The Green fleet races were from Chennai to Ennore and back covering a total distance of 40 kms.

The first three days were the J/80 ranking event with nine races with a discard. The Main fleet ranking event was won by a comfortable margin by Team RMYC Ennore Centre.

The Main fleet Offshore races were held on 15th May. All the teams hoisted their spinnakers at the start. The first three boats had a neck-and-neck competition. Later the CRPF team took a lead of about 100 meters over the RMYC EC team which they maintained until the finish in Sri Lanka.

The second race was on a single starboard tack. This time the RMYC EC team opened up a slender lead over the CRPF team. The competition was intense and the distance between the boats varied between 10 meters and 20 meters over the next four hours! RMYC EC won the race and the event.

Capt. Vivek Shanbhag, Honorary Secretary, RMYC said, “Tamil Nadu, with a coastline of over 1,000 km and many ports and harbors, has a huge potential for promoting offshore sailing. It is heartening to see the increased interest in offshore sailing over the years with people of all ages wanting to take up the sport. The youngest helm was Master Ragav R, 14 years and Master Samarpit, 14 years as crew. Col. Gautam Das (retired) at 77 years old was the oldest crew.

The results were as follows:
1st Place: Team RMYC EC with Abhimanyu Panwar (Helm), Vivek Shanbhag, Dheer Singhi, Arvind S, Renu J
2nd Place: Team CRPF with Chinna Reddy (Helm)
3rd Place: Team Indian Coast Guard with Pravyn Prabhakar (Helm)