CHENNAI: Six years after she took up sailing, Lt Cdr Roopa Alagirisamy, a naval officer from Puducherry, is part of a six-member crew that bagged the prestigious Admiral Ramdas Trophy 2022/23 for the outstanding voyage of the year, instituted by the Yachting Association of India (YAI).
Onboard INSV Tarini, the crew navigated over 17,000 nautical miles on a 188-day-long transcontinental voyage, which began last December. When the vessel reappeared on the Goan horizon on May 23, it marked a significant victory for the Navy and heralded the beginning of its most ambitious mission yet — to see a woman officer circumnavigate the globe, solo and unassisted.
Roopa is one of the two women sailors training for this mission. The other is Lt Cdr Dilna K, who, too, was part of the INSV Tarini crew. She hails from Kozhikode in Kerala. The two were selected from a pool of seventeen women officers.
“It was an amazing opportunity. Over the course of six months, I got a chance to navigate through difficult waters, different weather systems, and a slew of challenges. I’ve certainly grown more confident on the boat,” Roopa had told TNIE shortly after her preparatory ocean sortie in May.
The voyage also helped her pick up new skills. “Navigation was one aspect where I had to improve a lot. I think I was able to do that. That’s not all - I also honed my skills in all the other departments — seamanship, maintenance, etc.,” Roopa added.
This was crucial for Roopa as her initial posting in the Navy, after being commissioned in June 2017, was in the armament cadre, where her primary tasks were inspecting guns and rocket launchers. The kind of seafaring adventures that she does so regularly now had little room here.
During her time at the Controllerate of Naval Armament Inspection in Mumbai, she also picked up sailing as a sub-course. “I took an immediate liking to it. I began as a dinghy sailor and quickly found my way into championships,” Roopa told TNIE. Soon, this experience emboldened her to volunteer for the Navy’s ocean passage mission. “It was an opportunity I just could not miss,” she added.
Roopa currently trains with the Ocean Sailing Node at INS Mandovi in Goa. Her biggest inspiration is Cdr Abhilash Tomy (retd), the first Indian to circumnavigate the world solo, unassisted and without stops. The 2022/23 awards were announced at the 54th annual meeting of the YAI. The trophies will be personally handed over to the winners in late October. The YAI is the governing authority for sailing, windsurfing, motor boating, powerboat racing and personal watercraft at sea and on inland waters in India.
MAJOR SAILING EXPEDITIONS
Western Naval Command golden jubilee expedition
Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav expedition - from Kochi to Goa
President’s fleet review - from Goa to Visakhapatnam and back
Training sortie to Mauritius and back
Transcontinental voyage onboard INSV Tarini - Cape to Rio race and back
Credentials
Roopa holds a BE in Aeronautical Engineering from Anna University, Chennai
She has had a stint with the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bengaluru, as a project assistant
Her father, Alagirisamy GP, is a former Indian Air Force pilot