Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Abhilash Tomy, Golden Globe Race
Mains level: NA
Central Idea
- Abhilash Tomy, a former Commander in the Indian Navy, has achieved the remarkable feat of completing a solo circumnavigation worldwide by finishing second at the Golden Globe Race (GGR), 2022.
- He achieved this record under even more challenging circumstances than his previous record-breaking feat of going worldwide on a sailboat solo and unassisted back in 2013.
What is Golden Globe Race?
- The Golden Globe Race is a non-stop, solo, unassisted yacht race around the world which was held for the first time in 1968-69.
- The race requires contestants to use boats designed to prescribed premodern specifications and rely entirely on sextants and paper charts.
- Satellite phones are available for extremely restricted use, and the use of modern navigational gear is not allowed.
- The sailing would be along a stipulated route, rounding the three great capes (Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, and Cape Horn in Chile).
His return to GGR
- After several injuries, in 2021, Tomy began to look for sponsors and boats to participate in GGR-2022.
- He announced his participation in the race on the Bayanat in March 2022, sponsored by a UAE-based company in the field of geospatial artificial intelligence.
- However, just three weeks before the race, the boat collided with a ship and required massive repairs.
Significance of his achievement
- Only three of the 11 contestants of GGR-2022 lasted the course of the race, with Kirsten Neuschafer becoming the first woman to win a solo around-the-world yacht race.
- Tomy’s boat was the most ‘repaired’ boat in the race and it was all carried out by the sailor fighting unimaginable sea conditions and lack of sleep.
- In the end, Tomy became the first Asian to complete the 30,000-mile GGR by finishing second after Neuschafer.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024