The 24th Seabird Class National Championship was held in Mumbai Harbour on 26th and 27th March 2005.The event was conducted under the burgees of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, the Bombay Sailing Association the National Seabird Class Association. Entries included many of the top yachtsmen from the country including a few teams from the Navy and the Army. Ms. Pia Sanyal of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club, was the only female sailor in the fleet, who braved heavy winds and injury to give a creditable performance on debut.

There were a total of 7 races sailed with varying conditions testing the skills of the sailors. Wind-speeds ranged from 5 Knots to gusts of 14 Knots. The wind was quite shifty ensuring that fortunes swung as wildly as the wind itself. The sea however, was relatively flat, making for good sailing conditions. There was a strong ebb tide which made the racing that much more challenging with a lot of boats getting tangled at the mark roundings.

Sanjeev Chauhan from the INWTC in Whimberel & Sandeep Mhatre of the Colaba Sailing Club in Petrel emerged as the favourites on day 1 and were in for a bitter fight right upto the final race. Defending National Champion Cyrus Heerjee of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club was sidelined after an unfortunate incident in which his boat Greyeagle's main-boom broke. Jamshed Godrej (RBYC) in Osprey was the only other skipper to challenge the leaders as they consistently kept increasing their margin over the competition.

However, on Day 2, Sandeep Mhatre won 2 races out of three to emerge victorious. He was ably supported by his crew Gulshan Chunekar (the National Enterprise Junior Champion) and Ninad Mayekar (the Asian 420 Junior Bronze Medalist). Sanjeev Chauhan with his Crew Rajesh Dhulaji & GL Yadav managed to finish 2nd.

The winners Mhatre, Chunekar & Mayekar (CSC) were awarded the Godrej Trophy, which was instituted by Mr. Naval Pirojsha Godrej in 1982. Mr. NP Godrej was a pioneer of sailing in Mumbai and was a great supporter of the sport. The trophy was designed by Mr. AP Unwalla, an accomplished artist.

Since the boats are not evenly matched on speed, there is a separate handicap series which adjusts for the differences in boat speed. This was won by Jamshed Godrej of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club with his crew Hunoz Mistry (RBYC) & Chetan Fernandes(CSC) . P Madhu & Crew of the Army Corps of Engineers Sailing Club were the runners up.

OVERALL RESULTS

Online :
1. Sandeep Mhatre, Gulshan Chunekar & Ninad Mayekar (CSC)
2. Sanjeev Chauhan, Rajesh Dhulaji & GL Yadav (INWTC)

Handicap :
1. Jamshed Godrej, Hunoz Mistry & Chetan Fernandes
2. P Madhu, D Shahji (CESC)