Commander going around the world in solo race
COMMANDER Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy, who has already done one solo circumnavigation of the globe, will participate in a one-of-a-kind circumnavigation race next year.
India will take part in The Golden Globe race for the first time, with Tomy one of the five invited to the event.
The race to commemorate 50 years of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s historic 1968-69, worldfirst, solo, non-stop circumnavigation will take sailors back in time.
It requires participants to use the same equipment and technology as was used in 1968.
To qualify for participation, entrants must have prior ocean sailing experience of at least 8 000 miles and another 2 000 miles solo in any boat by March 1, 2018.
Tomy completed a solo circumnavigation in 2012-13.
The number of entrants is limited to 30 and the event is already over-subscribed.
“This is the second time The Golden Globe race is taking place and we will have to use the same technology used in 1968,” Tomy said. “There will be no GPS, satellite phones or weather updates. We will have to follow navigation charts and the stars,” he said.
Tomy is not just the only Indian to participate in the race but also the only Asian in the list of skippers.
The circumnavigation route entails keeping the boat in the open sea all the time and not taking any straits or canals along the way.
They must cross the equator at least once and the total distance covered in the journey should be more than 21 600 nautical miles, the Earth’s circumference.
Sir Robin was the first person to sail single-handedly and non-stop around the world – between June 14, 1968 and April 22, 1969.
The race this time will start from Falmouth, Cornwall, on June 14, exactly 50 years after the original race and from the same point.
The participants will sail through the Atlantic Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa, across the Indian and Pacific oceans, cross the Cape Horn and then sail back to the starting point in the UK.