From a broken spine to a broken auto-pilot, Cdr. Tomy sailed through it all to complete the Golden Globe Race

From a broken spine to a broken auto-pilot, Cdr. Tomy sailed through it all to complete the Golden Globe Race

Five years ago, he came back to India on a stretcher and went home in a wheelchair, having suffered life-threatening injury in the middle of the Golden Globe Race. On Thursday, Commander Abhilash Tomy (Retd) returned to India in triumph after creating history as the first Indian to complete the race, a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe without any modern technological aids, recreating sailing in the 1960s.

“This time, I had the dream team and it is because of them that I was able to do it,” he told journalists after being felicitated by the Navy on Friday. He finished the GGR 2022 in the second place after a gruelling 236 days alone at sea in a sail boat. South African sailor Kirsten Neuschafer took the first spot, becoming the first woman to win the race.

“Three weeks before the start of the race, my boat got damaged, and everyone thought I would be disqualified. But with the support of the team, I was able to fix it and get in the race,” Cdr. Tomy said. “I learned that I needed a good team to support me. So this time, I had exactly the team I had dreamt of. I had a fantastic designer from the Netherlands, who helped me set up the boat. A team manager from the U.S., along with my family and a brilliant sponsor.”

Cdr Tomy sailed the last 10,000 miles after fixing a broken auto-pilot with a piece of wood from the anchor. “I think the toughest thing for me was when my self-steering broke close to Cape Horn... I remember I called my race organisers and informed about it to them. They in turn called my wife and told her that his second chance is over. Because a lot of people retired after their autopilot failed,” he narrated. “I immediately removed my toilet door, made a spear and fixed it but it also failed. I was left with a thought of what to do. I then cut my emergency radar and fashioned a spear out of it, but it did not fit. Then I finally took out a piece from the anchor and fixed it to the autopilot. From there, I sailed 10,000 miles. This was the most innovative repair I have done and I did not lose the race.”

The invitation-only race had 16 participants from 11 countries, and started on September 4, 2022 from Les Sables-d’Olonne in France.

Cdr. Tomy was unable to fulfil his long-cherished dream in the 2018 edition of the GGR when he suffered a severe back injury after the mast of his boat Thuriya broke, due to extremely rough weather and sea conditions. It took three days and a dramatic global effort by the navies of India, Australia and France to rescue him from the middle of nowhere. 

Recounting those tough moments, he said, “I got stuck in a storm because my name was written on it. When the boat capsized, I got separated from it, but I was holding on to the mast, and when the boat straightened I was on the top of the mast. But suddenly, I plunged from 5 to 8 metres height, resulting in a fracture in my spine, lying in the boat for three days before I was rescued. It all happened in the most remote corner area of the earth.”