Sailing a winner from Goa

Having volunteered for the Indian Navy’s Sagar Parikrama project, which would attempt the first solo circumnavigation of the planet by an Indian, Commander Dilip Donde got down to articulating the specifics of the sailboat. She must be reliable, a safe vessel to sail in. Moreover, she had to be “idiot-proof” — Donde’s description for how forgiving she should be of the first-time circumnavigator’s mistakes. Only then did other parameters matter, speed being one, for which she could be long.

The navy approached Van de Stadt, the reputed Dutch boat-designing firm, explained their need, and secured the rights to build a model called the Tonga 56, a 56-ft-long sloop that was essentially designed for charter trips. They also dispatched a team to short-list competent boatyards in India where the vessel could be built.

An unlikely choice

Aquarius Fibreglass was started 18 years ago by Ratnakar Dandekar and his wife. The Goa company traditionally made small crafts. They had just burnt their fingers by building a big 20-metre vessel for a State Government, with the associated rigmarole of delayed payments et al, when the naval team arrived to inspect and shortlist them to build a sailboat for the Government. Dandekar is an instrumentation engineer, and his father a naval architect. Aquarius hadn’t built sailboats before.

Building sailboats requires skill. Simply put, a boat with an engine will power its way through water even if its design and fabrication are bad. A boat powered by a sail must harness the wind and translate that energy to effortless movement on water, which means everything from concept to construction matters. It is said in builders’ circles that should a voyage succeed, the sailor gets all the credit; but should it fail, or if the sailor is lost, all blame is heaped on the boat builder.

Of the four Indian boat-builders that the navy shortlisted, only one had built a sailboat before. In what is probably testimony to the challenge of building a sailboat for solo circumnavigation, the experienced builder never submitted a bid in the tender process that followed. Aquarius won the tender as its bid was the lowest.

Construction challenges

Dandekar had a year to deliver a boat he knew nothing of. Like others in the Sagar Parikrama project, he read Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s book about his solo non-stop circumnavigation — the first ever — to get an idea of sailing solo and what could go wrong with a sailboat on such a demanding voyage. Then he took a decision: Since this was new territory for Aquarius, he would stick to loyally executing the Tonga 56 design. The navy’s agreement with Van de Stadt required periodic inspection by the designer; they deputed Dutch boat-builder and consultant, Johan Vels.

Aquarius’s first order for a sailboat exceeded its then turnover. Banks helped with loans, materials were procured. For strength, the boat’s hull was made with red cedar wood sandwiched between two layers of fibreglass. For Dandekar, building the hull was a wake-up call. The wood had 74 per cent humidity against the stipulated 12 per cent. Ovens had to be set up. “That was when I realised I had to start learning and be totally dedicated,” he said. Commander Donde camped in Goa for much of the time when the boat was built.

More challenges surfaced. The boat’s keel was made of steel, with nine tonnes of lead within. The yard hadn’t handled molten lead before, so Dandekar learnt the technique at a friend’s battery-making facility at Vasai near Mumbai. Once he was back in Goa, the Aquarius team poured the nine tonnes, two kilos at a time, using a ladle.

Sometimes, they overworked and committed errors due to strain, as with the first time the rudder was fitted. Donde then laid down a rule: Work hard but rest as well. The visiting Dutch consultant Vels monitored quality. Eventually, he felt they had a good boat going.

Sailing ahead

After the Mhadei (another name for the Mandovi river) was launched, she was taken to moorings beyond the road bridge to Panjim to get her mast fitted. She then proceeded for her mandated two months of testing by Donde and crew. The rest is history.

The Mhadei ran two, almost back-to-back, circumnavigations. The first, from August 2009 to May 2010, had Donde circumnavigating solo with four stops en route. The second, spanning November 2012 to April 2013, was with Lieutenant Commander Abhilash Tomy, who did the same nonstop. Things did go wrong aboard, but Mhadei brought her sailors back home safe. The India-built Mhadei is the first Tonga 56 to do a successful solo circumnavigation.

India’s officialdom left its characteristic imprint though. The tender documents inadequately described the Mhadei as a yacht, when the larger picture was the first circumnavigation attempt for India on a tight budget. After the Mhadei was handed over to the navy, Aquarius, which delivered the boat on schedule, was raided by tax officials seeking excise duty payment for the ‘yacht’. The navy spoke up. Although he got back what he was forced to pay, Dandekar wishes this hadn’t happened in an otherwise absolutely engaging project.

He has no hesitation in acknowledging how much the Mhadei changed Aquarius. Its ability has been vindicated. Company turnover has risen; Aquarius looks busy. There is even an aluminium hull being made — although in the cyclical pattern of the boat-building industry, the company that sub-contracted the order to Aquarius sank into financial difficulty leaving Dandekar with the hull. But he is happy that he now knows aluminium too. “Building the Mhadei was a big achievement. There aren’t too many yards that can claim to have built a sailboat which did two back-to-back circumnavigations,” Dandekar said.