Abhilash Tomy Starts Fundraiser To Again Participate In Solo Race That Fractured His Spine In 2018

Champion sailor Abhilash Tomy, who suffered multiple spine fractures when a storm hit his boat near Australia during the Golden Globe Race (GGR) in 2018, has started a fundraiser to participate in this contest again next year. The quadrennial GGR is a solo sailboat race around the world that bars the use of all modern technology that came after 1968. Kirti Chakra winner Tomy started his campaign on Tuesday on crowdfunding platform Ketto to raise Rs 3 crore to participate in the GGR 2022. As on Thursday evening, he has raised Rs 1.42 lakh.

Commander Tomy, who took premature retirement from the Indian Navy in January this year, tweeted that he has "firmed" his plans of competing in the GGR 2022.

"I have a few options as far as boats go. But it all boils down to how much money I can raise. Here is your chance to be a part of a race around the world!" he stated.

Tomy was rescued from the Indian Ocean near Australia in a multi-nation operation on September 24, 2018, three days after he suffered multiple spine fractures when a powerful storm hit his boat about 1,900 nautical miles from Perth during the GGR.

The race had begun on July 1, 2018, and Tomy was in the third position in the race after sailing over 10,500 nautical miles when the storm hit his boat. The main mast of his boat Thoriya was ripped off by around 15-metre high waves.

The GGR would start from Les Sables d'Olonne, France on September 4, 2022.

According to Tomy's Ketto page, competitors will start the GGR 2022 through the famous Vendee canal, head south into the Canaries Gate, sail through the Atlantic, round the Cape of Good Hope, sail across the Indian Ocean, cross the Storm Bay Gate, through the Pacific to round Cape Horn and finish at Les Sables d'Olonne after sailing through the South and North Atlantic.

While 6,000 mountaineers have climbed the Everest and 600 astronauts have been to space, only about 100 sailors have completed a solo and non-stop circumnavigation, the Ketto page noted.

"That shouldn't be surprising given the amount of skills that a single human needs to have in order to achieve this. Cdr Abhilash Tomy completed a solo and non-stop circumnavigation (Mumbai to Mumbai) in 2013 on board the Mhadei at the end of which he was received by the Hon''ble President of India. During the speech, he had asked for his permission to go for another round," it added.

For the third time, Commander Tomy will test his strength of mind, skill and mettle as he gears up to circumnavigate the Earth, solo and non-stop, it said.