Panaji: Retired Commander Abhilash Tomy who successfully completed the Golden Globe Race, was given a hero’s welcome on Friday at the Naval Officers’ Institute in Goa. Tomy finished second in the race in which only a handful of those who started were able to finish. With this achievement, the 44-year-old became the first Keralite, first Indian and first Asian to complete the Golden Globe Race.
He completed the race in 236 days having started out on September 4 last year from France on his boat ‘Bayanat’.
Golden Globe Race is a solo non-stop unassisted 30,000 mile yacht race around the world without any modern technological aids, recreating sailing in the 1960s. The winner of this year’s Golden Globe Race is Kirsten Neuschafer, she became the first woman to win the race.
This was the second time that Tomy had taken part in the Golden Globe Race. The first attempt almost proved fatal for him five years ago. He suffered a spinal injury on September 21, 2018, after rough seas and powerful winds in the southern Indian Ocean, one of the remotest spots on Earth, crippled his yacht, SV Thuriya. He had to call for rescue.
Tomy faced difficulties this year too. His boat got damaged three weeks before the race and had to get it repaired. Even during the race, the steering wheel of his boat broke down and he had to take part of his boat’s anchor to fix it. Fortunately he finished the race overcoming all the hurdles.
Abhilash Tomy responded that he was able to do it because of the team he had. “I had a fantastic designer from the Netherlands, who helped me set up the boat, a team manager from the US along with my family and a brilliant sponsor”, Tomy said to a leading newspaper. He added that he was relived because his main aim was to finish the race. He also thanked the Indian Navy for its support.
When asked about his next plan, Tomy responded that he have not really decided but would love to continue sailing and maybe raise a team and go around the world.
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