Golden Globe Race: Champion sailor Tomy accorded hero’s welcome by Indian Navy | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Golden Globe Race: Champion sailor Tomy accorded hero’s welcome by Indian Navy

ByRahul Singh
May 19, 2023 08:58 PM IST

The 44-year-old completed the gruelling 30,000-mile race, the longest sporting event in the world, on April 29 after sailing for 236 days in his boat named Bayanat. Tomy returned to India on Thursday

The Indian Navy on Friday rolled out the red carpet for champion sailor Commander Abhilash Tomy (retd), who finished second in the enormously challenging solo and non-stop circumnavigation race, 2022 Golden Globe Race (GGR); with top admirals attending a reception hosted in his honour at Kota House, the imposing naval officers mess, and applauding him for accomplishing the rare feat that pushed the limits of his endurance.

Tomy with Air Vice Marshal MS Sridhar, the military doctor who fixed his back after he suffered a serious spinal injury. (HT Photo)
Tomy with Air Vice Marshal MS Sridhar, the military doctor who fixed his back after he suffered a serious spinal injury. (HT Photo)

The 44-year-old completed the gruelling 30,000-mile race, the longest sporting event in the world, on April 29 after sailing for 236 days in his boat named Bayanat.

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Tomy returned to India on Thursday.

Those who attended the reception included navy vice chief Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, chief of personnel Vice Admiral Suraj Berry, controller of personnel services Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, director general naval operations Vice Admiral Atul Anand, deputy chief Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru and director general medical services (navy) Vice Admiral Arti Sarin.

Also Read: ‘Was lying immobile on boat for 3 days’: Abhilash Tomy recalls 2018 tragic accident

Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar could not attend as he was not in town.

In a hall packed with top navy officials in their crisp white uniforms, one man stood out in his blue dress, Air Vice Marshal MS Sridhar.

The Indian Air Force doctor has been a part of Tomy’s remarkable journey from a hospital bed to the podium at Les Sables-d’Olonne in France from where the race began and ended.

This was Tomy’s second GGR.

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.

Sridhar was the man who fixed his back at the Army Hospital (Research and Referral), New Delhi.

Titanium rods were inserted in his spine and five vertebrae fused into one.

Tomy, who is also a naval aviator, was under Sridhar’s care for eight months before he learnt to walk again and later got back to flying and sailing.

The two men, excelling in their own fields, hugged.

“The entire credit for this accomplishment goes to Tomy. The first thing he told me after the surgery was that he wanted to take part in GGR again. He stands out for his perseverance, dedication and sense of purpose,” said Sridhar, one of the military’s top neurosurgeons.

At the reception, Tomy spoke mostly about the 2018 GGR experience --- the accident, the harrowing moments, and the rescue 70 hours later. Before that accident, he was in the third place among 11 international participants and had sailed more than 10,500 miles.

After the dramatic rescue, he was taken to Ile Amsterdam, a 55-sq km island that is part of French territory, and initially treated at a small medical facility.

“I returned to the race to prove that I could do it. There were two other things too. I wanted to wave the Indian flag from the podium in the 75th year of the country’s independence and inspire the younger generation to look at sea for training, leisure and adventure. My job is done even if I have inspired a few,” said Tomy.

Rounding Cape Horn, known for its rough waters and powerful winds, at the southern tip of Chile’s Tierra del Fuego archipelago was one of the biggest challenges that he faced during the race.

“I had two knockdowns before navigating around Cape Horn. The self-steering gear also broke down. I fixed the autopilot using a piece of the anchor and then sailed 10,000 miles,” he said.

An old sea custom dictates sailors who have rounded Cape Horn are entitled to wear a gold earring in the landward ear.

Tomy hasn’t got his ear pierced yet.

He had had set off from Les Sables-d’Olonne on September 4, 2022.

He is the first Asian skipper to finish on the podium in any round the world race, and in any format. The race bars the use of modern technology and participants are required to operate as if they were in the 1960s, navigating using charts and the stars.

“Tomy’s accomplishment and his phoenix-like rise will go down in the annals of maritime history. He is one of India’s finest sailors and his feat will hopefully inspire a new generation of Indians to take up sailing,” said maritime affairs expert Captain DK Sharma (retd), who has tracked Tomy’s journey closely.

Tomy’s boat, the United Arab Emirates-flagged Bayanat, is also a part of history now.

A museum in Abu Dhabi will be its new home.

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