(From DNA India: www.dnaindia.com/sport/)

Mumbai: How to make a champion sailing team? Get a film-maker, a communications consultant, an experienced and enthusiastic sailor led by an SYBA student. This is the story of Team Ayesha Lobo, the only all women’s team from India participating in the Mumbai International Match Race (MIMR), 2009, being held at the H2O complex at Chowpatty.

The 18-year old Ayesha Lobo leads a team comprising Harmann Kaur, 26, Sonali Kelkar, 42, and Dhanya Pilo, 28.

"We have won three events this year and our team is just six months old," says a proud Lobo. Her team, however, lost on Monday to a Swedish outfit led by Nils Bjerkas. Lobo is now focusing on an early morning race on Tuesday in the J24 class.

Even at this young age, Lobo has eight years of experience in the sport. She started at the age of 10 in the Optimist class. She is the race-maker of the team and the youngest one in the country too. Harmann, a communications consultant, plays the role of trimmer while Dhanya, a film-maker and designer, is on the fore-deck along with Sonali Kelkar, the senior-most member of the team.

All of them have over five years of experience in various classes. "As a team we understand each other pretty well and know what to do even without saying at times," said Lobo. The team actually came together with a focus on getting an Olympic berth. "It isn’t an easy task, but we have it in us to crack the code," explained the skipper.

The four meet up twice a week. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the Match Racing Association of India (MRAI) conduct their clinics at Navy Nagar, Colaba, where all of them are coached by former world yachting champion Farokh Taraporewala, India’s top sailor and world No.40 Cdr R Mahesh and Arjuna Awardee Nitin Mongia.

Taraporewala is excited with the prospect of women’s participation. "They can’t ask for anything better when the best sailors in the world are around to coach them," explained the Indian Navy commander. Ask him about the possibility of an Olympic berth; he says 2016 Games should be a realistic target.

While match racing in the country is done in J24 boats with a crew of four on board, at the Olympics, newly introduced Elliot class boats will be used. These boats can have only three crew members but Taraporewala isn’t too worried. "If at this level they can’t jump from one class to another, then they should not be sailing," said the veteran champion.