The Indian Navy’s second ocean-going sailboat, INSV Tarini was inducted on 18 February 2017.
The sailboat is being inducted into the Navy and is slated to be the platform for First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition of the Indian Navy.
About INSV Tarini:
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 fibreglass sandwich construction for a better performance than aluminium and steel.
INSV Tarini carries a suite of six sails including the Mainsail, Headsails (Genoa and staysails), Downwind sails and a Storm sail. Her mast is 25 meters tall and has been custom built for sailing in extreme conditions.
She also 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 INSV Tarini:
The trials of the newly built INSV Tarini were successfully completed on 30 January 17 and all the learning experience from INSV Mhadei has been incorporated in this vessel right from the start.
The successful construction of both the INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini in Goa are a tribute to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ policy.
INSV Tarini is almost identical to the iconic Mhadei which has sailed over 1,15,000 nautical miles in the past eight years.
This includes path-breaking voyages like the first Indian solo circumnavigation undertook by Capt Dilip Donde (Retd) in 2009 and first solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation by Cdr Abhilash Tomy in 2013.
About First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe expedition:
In order to promote ocean sailing activities and to encourage women empowerment, the Indian Navy conceptualised the idea of the First Indian All Women Circumnavigation of the Globe.
A team of six women Officers led by Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi was selected for this project.
These officers have done basic sail training courses at INWTC Mumbai followed by Navigation, Seamanship, Communication and Meteorology courses at various naval training schools at Kochi.
After completion of 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 on a gruelling voyage to Cape Town in December 2016.
The crew members of the boat are, its captain, Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi and her team, Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, Lieutenant Patarapalli Swathi, Lieutenant Sh Vijaya Devi and Lieutenant Payal Gupta.
The extremely challenging expedition by her All Women Crew is slated to commence in August 2017.
