[3] The Sapper Adventure Foundation had sponsored a sailing expedition from Bombay to Bandar Abbas, Iran in 1977[4] in an 20-foot 1909-vintage wooden Seabird[5] Class sailboat Albatross to test the sailing capabilities of the sailors of the Corps of Engineers and a precursor to the circumnavigation of the globe by the Sappers on Trishna.

[6] [7] The planning for the circumnavigation commenced in early 1980s and finally took off in 1984 when a team of officers from the Corps of Engineers flew to the U.K. to buy a boat and sail it back to India.

Limited funds dictated the Sapper Adventure Foundation to opt for the purchase of a second-hand sailboat for the venture.

[10] Trishna set off on her first long distance voyage from the Joint Services Sailing Center, Gosport, U.K. on 12 October 1984.

[12][13][14] The team to sail the boat back from Gosport, United Kingdom to Bombay, India consisted of the following members:[8] Maj A. K. Singh was handicapped.