UTV World Movies conducts yacht race for media agencies

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
UTV World Movies, the international movie channel from UTV Entertainment Television, last week conducted a yacht racing competition for some media agencies. The sailing race activity was conducted in association with the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre (INWTC) in Mumbai.

Sameer Ganapathy, business head, UTV World Movies, says, "The yacht sailing competition not only engaged our clients in a spirit of competitiveness, but, also served as a great brand fit. As the channel believes in exposing its audience to various formats of cinema, we thought we'd take up an upcoming sport like yacht racing and give our clients a different experience."

Six media agencies participated in the race in teams of four members - Lodestar Mumbai, Starcom Mumbai, Madison Mumbai, GroupM Mumbai, Madison Bangalore and Starcom Delhi. GroupM Mumbai picked up the winner's trophy, while Starcom Delhi and Madison Mumbai were the first and second runners-up, respectively.

Apart from the exhilarating experience of participating in a yacht race, the participants also received gift vouchers, along with plaques. Cdr Farrokh Taraporevala from the Indian Navy, who has also been a World Champion in yacht racing twice, led the race.

Since most of the participants were new to the sport, therefore, to ensure proper security, the channel arranged for a pre-race briefing by the Navy. Boats used for the race were J-24s, which are recognized as one of the leading Global One Design small keelboats.

Though the race was supposed to be a one-off initiative, the response received and the buzz generated has made UTV World Movies decide to make it an annual property. Ganapathy says the concept caters to a unique opportunity of increasing number of sailing enthusiasts in the media city.