The Indian Navy is set to commission the sailboat that will take the first Indian all-women crew on a circumnavigation of the globe.
The navy’s second ocean going sailboat is named Tarini and will be inducted at a ceremony scheduled to be held at the INS Mandovi Boat Pool on evening of February 18.
INSV Tarini is a sloop built by M/s Aquarius Shipyard Pvt Ltd at Divar, Goa. The boat has been built to a stock design by Van de Stadt, Netherlands called Tonga 56.
The hull is made of wooden core fiberglass sandwich construction for a better performance than aluminum and steel.
INSV Tarini carries a suite of six sails including a main sail, head sails (Genoa and stay sails), downwind sails and storm sail. Her mast is 25 meters tall and has been custom built by M/s Southern Spars, Cape Town, for sailing in extreme conditions. She boasts a Raymarine navigation suite and an array of latest satellite communication systems through which she can be contacted anywhere in the world.
The trials of the newly built INSV Tarini were completed on 30 January and all the learning experience from INSV Mhadei has been incorporated in this vessel right from the start.
INSV Tarini is almost identical to her illustrious predecessor, the iconic Mhadei which has sailed over 115000 nautical miles in the past eight years. This includes voyages like the first Indian solo circumnavigation undertaken by Capt Dilip Donde (Retd) in 2009 and first solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation by Cdr Abhilash Tomy in 2013.
In order to promote ocean sailing activities and to encourage women empowerment, the Indian Navy conceptualized the idea of the first Indian all-women circumnavigation of the globe for which a team of six women Officers led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi was selected for this project.
These officers have done basic sail training courses at INWTC Mumbai followed by Navigation, Seamanship, Communication and Meterology courses at various naval training schools at Kochi.
After completing theoretical courses, the officers sailed INSV Mhadei to Vizag for the International Fleet Review 2016 and thereafter to Mauritius and back. Following that, they sailed the boat to Cape Town in Dec 16.