The story so far: Abhilash Tomy, former Commander in the Indian Navy who became the first Indian to go around the world on a sailboat solo and unassisted back in 2013, has now attained another record of completing a solo circumnavigation under even more gruelling circumstances when he made podium finish at the Golden Globe Race (GGR), 2022, on April 29. He finished second after South African Kirsten Neuschäfer.
What is GGR?
The Golden Globe Race is a non-stop, solo, unassisted yacht race around-the-world which was held for the first time in 1968-69. Just one of the nine participants — 30-year-old British sailor Robin Knox-Johnston — made it to the finishing point sailing a boat named Suhaili which was built in India. The second edition of the race was held 50 years later, in 2018, when Tomy threw his hat in the ring. One of the conditions was that the contestants would use boats designed to prescribed premodern specifications and would not be allowed to use any modern navigational gear. They would have to rely entirely on sextants and paper charts. To be more specific, anything that wasn’t available in 1968 would not be allowed. Satellite phones would be available for extremely restricted use, up to four short messages a day, and use of the GPS chart plotter carried in a sealed box (for emergency) would lead to disqualification from the race. And the sailing would be along a stipulated route, rounding the three great capes, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Cape Leeuwin in Australia and Cape Horn in Chile.
What happened at the race in 2018?
Tomy got a boat, Thuriya, built similar to Suhaili at the same yard that had built INSV Mhadei used by Cdr (retd) Dilip Donde and Tomy for circumnavigating the globe and made a tremendous start in 2018. He was racing in the third position when Thuriya got dismasted in a storm in the Southern Indian Ocean. Down with a spinal injury, he was subsequently evacuated in a multi-nation effort and was operated upon, with titanium rods inserted into his spine and five vertebrae fused into one. He had great difficulty in walking, and it was thought he would hardly sail again. But before hanging up his naval uniform in early 2021, Tomy, a naval pilot, flew his last Dornier sortie and did a fairly good amount of ocean sailing and kayaking.
How did he return to GGR?
In 2021, Tomy began to look for sponsors, and boats, in order to take part in GGR-2022. He also tried to get crowdfunding. Eventually, in March, 2022, he announced his participation in the race on the Bayanat, named after a UAE-based company in the field of geospatial artificial intelligence that would sponsor his race. However, just three weeks before the race was to start, the boat collided with a ship and required massive repairs. At the end of it all, he was there at the starting line at Les Sables d’Olone on the western coast of France on September 4, 2022, to finish the job he was forced to quit abruptly four years back.
Why is his feat stupendous?
Only three of the 11 contestants of GGR-2022 lasted the course of the race, with Kirsten Neuschäfer becoming the first woman to win a solo around-the-world yacht race. It was almost a neck-and-neck finish for Tomy and Neuschäfer after both had faced testing times in the Southern Ocean. Officially, Tomy’s was the most ‘repaired’ boat in the race and it was all carried out by the sailor fighting unimaginable sea conditions and lack of sleep. The main sail of Tomy’s boat was torn and his wind wane was damaged. Similar loss forced many contestants to quit, but Tomy put his skills to good use to do the repairs, including fixing a wind wane from his toilet door. His messages relayed by the GGR organiser on social media were testimony to the sailor’s wry wit even in the face of odds. In the end, Tomy, who had received ocean sailing tips from Knox-Johnston himself, became the first Asian to complete the 30,000-mile GGR.
- Abhilash Tomy, former Commander in the Indian Navy who became the first Indian to go around the world on a sailboat solo and unassisted back in 2013, has now attained another record of completing a solo circumnavigation when he made podium finish at the Golden Globe Race (GGR), 2022, on April 29.
- Only three of the 11 contestants of GGR-2022 lasted the course of the race, with Kirsten Neuschäfer becoming the first woman to win a solo around-the-world yacht race. It was almost a neck-and-neck finish for Tomy and Neuschäfer after both had faced testing times in the Southern Ocean.
- In the end, Tomy, who had received ocean sailing tips from Knox-Johnston himself, became the first Asian to complete the 30,000-mile GGR.
