I, Rajen Shah, the skipper and owner of Golden Cat sailing catamaran, learnt to sail a dinghy “Sun Fish” in 1974 at Massachusetts, USA when I was studying at a university. There was no scope of sailing in Surat when I returned from the USA in 1977.

 

My first sailing attempt in Surat was in a pond, on a windsurfer owned by Nature Club of Surat in 1985 with Snehal Patel. I saw a windsurfing school on a beach of Mauritius, when I was on a holiday with my family in 1986. I immediately enrolled and learnt the sport. I acquired a second hand windsurf board from Shilpin Patel, Pondicherry and continued to windsurf for many years as it became one of my favorite sports along with tennis, cycling and trekking. My interest in sailing a cruiser - a long distance sailing boat - was awakened when I was visiting the UK with my family in 2007.I bought a Lazer Pico Sailing Dinghy in 2008 so that I can practice sailing before getting a sailing yacht at 60.

 

I was in search of a hobby which I could pursue after 60. I had many questions in mind: “Could I learn sailing at this age? Could I own a boat and maintain her without any existing infrastructure in the State of Gujarat? Which type of boat would be suitable for the Western coast of India? Where would be a safe place around Surat to moore the boat? How would I overcome the problem of sea sickness?”

 

After the wedding reception of my daughter Rajita in London, I joined Moonfleet sailing school whose principal is Noel Smith at Poole, UK. I completed five days RYA Competent Crew course and and fter six months I went back to England to do the Royal Yacht Association (RYA) Day-skipper course.There was no looking back as I passed various courses as per detail given in my sailing qualifications TABLE I.

 

Before the boat was built and commissioned on 25th December, 2010, I had dreamt of Sailing to Daman, across Bay of Khambhat and to my Nargol House near Umargam. All my dreams came true in 2011 – the first year of owning Golden Cat. I had not even thought of sailing to Goa and Diu in 2010, but having done that in 2011-12 my eyes were set on something bigger – the Lakshadweep and Maldives Islands. Summary of my sailing log is in Table II.

 

For the most people in Surat, understanding my psyche of participating in this extreme sport was beyond their grasp. Most people in our society would consider me crazy - not enlightened – for doing this. Sailing is not just a challenge for me, but it is about continually seeing and experiencing new things.

 

Who would sail with me? Most sports activities need a buddy to pursue them. In recreational sailing a skipper preferably needs one First Mate (deputy skipper) 2 crew members.

 

TABLE I

My Sailing qualifications:

1) RYA competent Crew - April 4, 2008 (5 days practical)

2) Short range radio operator course – April 8, 2008

3) RYA Day Skipper - September 14, 2008 (4 Days Shore base and 5 days practical)

4) Shore base (corresponcence) coastal skipper and Yachtmaster offshore - Feb 06, 2010

5) RYA Coastal Skipper June 24, 2010, 2012 (5 days practical)

6) RYA First Aid (1 day) – April 12, 2012

7) RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Coastal – April 21, 2012 (5 days preparation + 2 days examination)

8) RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore – August 17, 2014 (5 days preparation + 2 days examination)

9) ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising – October 2009

10)ASA 119 Marine weather - October 2009

11)ASA 120 Radar for Mariner - October 2009

 

RYA: Royal Yacht Association, England

ASA: American Sailing Association, USA

 

TABLE II:

Summary of my Sailing Log (9475 nm) from 2008 to January 2015:

Distance logged outside India on charter boats or with sailing schools: about 2000 nm

1) Multiple trips around Solent England for sailing courses&charter (Total 32 days, 705 nm)

2) Ionion Islands Greece May 2009 (7 days, 120nm)

3) Poole UK-Channel Islands&France-Poole Jul 2009(9 days, 310 nm)

4) New Rochelle NY to Norfolk Virginia USA Oct 2009 (3 days, 400 nm)

5) Bristol Connecticut-Martha’s Vinyard-Bristol USA May 2011 (8 days, 150 nm)

6) Hudson River and Lake George NY Jul 2012(3 days, 30 nm)

7) St. Petersburg-Crow’s Nest-St. Petersburg Florida June 2013(7 days, 150 nm)

8) Acadia National Park, Maine, USA Jul 2014(1 day, 20 nm)

9) Whitsunday, Austrlia May 2015 (7 days, 120 nm)

10) Charlestone, South Carolina, USA (6 Days, 220 nm)

 

Distance logged on my sailing yacht “Golden Cat” proudly made in India: about 8000 nm

1) Multiple trips around Surat India – (Total 32 days, 852 nm)

2) Surat-Sultanpur-Surat (3 days, 94 nm)

2) Surat-Diu-Surat India Mar 2011 (5 days, 230 nm)

3) Surat-Mumbai-Surat Apr 2011 (6 days, 300 nm)

4) Surat-Sultanpur(Talaja)-Surat Jan 2012 (3 days, 100 nm)

5) Surat-Goa-Surat Jan&Feb 2012 (13 days, 934 nm)

6) Surat-Diu-Surat Mar 2012 (7 days, 230 nm)

7) Surat-Lakshadweep-Surat Jan&Feb 2013 (40 days, 1700 nm)

8) Surat-Mandvi(Kutch)-Surat Dec&Jan 2013-14 (11 days, 800 nm)

9) Surat to Kochi Mar 2014 (15 days, 800 nm)

10) Kochi–Lakshadweep–Kochi Mar&Apr 2014 (11 days, 450 nm)

11) Kochi–Maldives–Kochi Dec&Jan 2014-15 (22 days, 1100 nm)

12) Kochi-Lakshadweep-Kochi March 2015 (15 days, 600 nm)

 

TABLE III:

Summary of all hobbies:

1)  Tennis – 1974 to 1999

2)  Biking (bicycling) – 1999 to 2001 (about 50000 km) fastest 160 km (100 miles) in 5 hours.

3)  Windsurfing – 1985 onwards (reached up to level 3.5 out of 5)

4)  Dinghy sailing – 2008 onwards

5)  Cruiser yacht sailing – 2008 onwards (see table II)-Golden cat commissioned on Dec 25, 2010

6)  Hiking and trekking – life long

7)  Water and snow skiing 

8)  Vocal/singing and keyboard playing – 2011 onwards

9)  Scuba diving – 2013 onwards

10) Under water photography – Dec 2014 onwards

 

TABLE IV:

Major Equipment/Gears purchased for the hobbies:

1)  Boats – 4 (sailing yacht Golden cat-1, sailing dinghy Laser Pico, skiboat, inflatable dinghy

2)  Windsurfing boards – 6 and a wardrobe of sails.

3)  Bicycles – 6  (mountain bikes–2, road bikes-3, folding-1)

4)  Digital Keyboards – 3, Speakers - 2

5)  Trekking Gears.

6)  Skiing gears.

7)  Tennis gears.

8)  Scuba gears and underwater camera.