Injured sailor Abhilash Tomy set to return home after rescue
Injured Indian Navy sailor Abhilash Tomy, rescued in a multi-nation operation from the Indian Ocean near Australia, is set to return home. Last month, Tomy, who was sailing his boat as part of the Golden Globe Race, a solo sailboat race around the world, drifted in the seas for three days. His boat was hit by a storm, about 1,900 nautical miles from Perth.
The main mast of Tomy's boat was ripped off by around 15-meter high waves. 39-year-old Tomy, a Kirti Chakra awardee, who suffered a back injury, is being picked up by the Indian Navy frigate INS Satpura for the return to India.
The Australian Navy confirmed the statement of Tomy's return. Tomy and Irishman Gregor McGuckin, competitors in round-the-world Golden Globe Race, were rescued by the French fishing vessel Osiris last Monday and taken to Ile Amsterdam, an island in the southern Indian Ocean. "We are very pleased that both yachtsmen are now safe," Australia's Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mike Noonan said in a statement.
The rescue operation was assisted by the Indian Navy's maritime surveillance aircraft P 8i and the Australian Navy also sent one of its frigates. Tomy's boat, the Thuriya, is a replica of Robin Knox-Johnston's Suhaili, winner of the first Golden Globe Race in 1968.
Tomy, who hails from Kerala, was placed third in the race when he faced the storm. The Golden Globe Race involves a single-handed circumnavigation of the globe - a distance of 30,000 miles - without using modern technology, except for satellite communications. Competitors started from France on 1 July and seven boats have so far withdrawn from the race.
