5 years after defying death, Indian Navy sailor to finish second in Solo Around the World yacht race

Les Sables-d'Olonne [France], April 29 : Indian sailor Commander Abhilash Tomy (retd.) will finally set foot on land, 236 days after setting sail in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), a solo non-stop yacht race around the world.

Commander Tomy is all set to finish the race 2nd after South African sailor Kirsten Neuschafer at 1:30 PM (IST) in Les Sables d'Olonne, France on Saturday, five years after suffering a severe back injury in a life-threatening accident in the same event.

The retired Naval Commander, who is also a recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, had on March 22, 2022, declared his participation in the Golden Globe Race 2022, one of the most dangerous and craziest of endeavours.

"I will be taking part in the Golden Globe Race 2022 on the Bayanat. It is a big thing for me and here is why. On 18 Sep 2018, I was racing in the South Indian Ocean when we were caught in an unusual storm which claimed two of the three boats in its way. Mine was one of them," Tomy had said in a tweet.

The GGR began on September 4, 2022.

https://twitter.com/abhilashtomy/status/1506168642656178177?s=20

Commander Tomy suffered a back injury at the sea after the yacht he was sailing in got dismasted on September 18, 2018.

He was stranded in the southern Indian Ocean during GGR 2018, a non-stop, around-the-globe sailing race.

He was swept up in a storm that wrecked his yacht and ended up being stranded halfway between Australia and South Africa.

He was rescued after 83 days at sea following a complex international effort. He was transferred to an Indian Navy vessel and two days after arriving in India, titum rods were inserted in his spine and 5 vertebrae were fused into one.

According to the Indian Navy, Commander Tomy was in communication with the Race Control in France through messages, which was relaying messages to JRCC Australia.

Navy spokesperson Captain DK Sharma had confirmed that "Commander Abhilash Tomy KC of the Indian Navy, representing India in the Golden Globe Race 2018 (GGR) on an indigenously built sailing vessel 'Thuriya' was dismasted and suffered a back injury yesterday. He is in the south Indian Ocean, approximately 1900 nautical miles from Perth, Australia and 2700 nm (approx 5020 km on the ground) from Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari)."