KOCHI: Much like how Captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s celebrated novel Moby Dick is drawn by the white whale, it is the modern sailor’s dream to complete a solo, non-stop voyage around the world. But for purists, there’s only one holy grail - the Golden Globe Race (GGR).
In GGR’s 2022 edition, Kochi native Abhilash Tomy, a former naval officer, is set for a podium finish. According to the race’s website, Abhilash is 150 nautical miles from the finish line and is expected to dock by 5am on April 29.
South African Kirsten Neuschäfer emerged the winner of the race when her boat Minnehaha docked at Les Sables d’Olonne (LSO), France, early on April 28.
Abhilash, the first Asian to contest in the race’s history, and Kirsten, the only woman contestant, were neck and neck for the majority of the race.
If the nearly 30,000 nautical mile-long journey around the world is difficult enough, the GGR takes it one step further by stripping sailors of modern navigational instruments.
Sailor had a near-death experience
The race demands that they rely on celestial navigation, the sextant, and the barometer to guide them, a homage to the ‘golden age’ of sailing. Abhilash won’t be very disheartened by the position. If his tweets are anything to go by, the 44-year-old is at peace on the sea. “He grew up around sailing clubs and the backwaters. For him, there is a natural inclination towards the sea,” said Lt Commander V C Tomy (retd), Abhilash’s father.
Abhilash’s victory assumes significance, given how five years ago, he had a near-death experience when participating in the race’s 2018 edition. While navigating the Southern Indian Ocean, his boat was caught in a storm, and Abhilash suffered a debilitating back injury, forcing him to retire.
With titanium rods in his spine, Abhilash had “to learn to walk again”. Yet despite these seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, “he longed to race again,” said Urmimala, Abhilash’s wife. “The race is the culmination of a long-harboured desire,” pointed out Ramesh Menon, a close friend. GGR 2022 is a watershed moment in the world of sailing, the beginning of a new epoch.