Goan yacht ready to make history

by Times of India on 14 Feb 2009 India’s maiden mission to solo circumnavigate the globe will be attempted on a sail boat made on the island of Divar and named Mhadei. No boat flying the Indian flag has undertaken a solo circumnavigation under sail. When Mumbai-based Commander Dilip Donde, 41, of the Indian Navy casts away on 15 August from Mumbai, on a journey estimated to take nine months, he will also be making a bid to enter the elite club of solo circumnavigators.

'The boat’s construction was started on Christmas Day 2007,' said 83-year-old Vice Admiral (Retd) M P Awati, who was instrumental in conceiving and starting the project.

On his journey, Donde will have three stop-overs, in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Asked how he would spend his time as he singly traverses the world’s oceans, Donde said if the weather conditions permitted, he would catch up on a novel. 'When I need to sleep, the yacht will be on auto-pilot,' he said.

Incidentally, the first person to solo circumnavigate the globe non-stop, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston of the UK in 1968-69 in 312 days, is in Goa to help tune the boat and train Donde for the mission.

full story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/Goa-made-yacht-ready-to-make-history/articleshow/4121303.cms