New Delhi, January 17

Naval commander Abhilash Tomy was left incapacitated in a sail boat after it was hit by a massive storm in the choppy waters of the Indian Ocean, but even the rough seas could not drown his will to survive against the odds.

Tomy, 39, the “only Asian” to participate in the Golden Globe Race 2018 — a 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe — that kicked off from Les Sables-d’Olonne, a seaside town in France in July, was rescued from his location late September by French vessel ‘Osiris’.

A pilot in the Navy, he shared his experiences and challenges faced during the gruelling contest at a media interaction held at the Kota House here on Thursday.

“After being rescued by ‘Osiris’, which incidentally is named after the (Egyptian) god of afterlife, I was sent for treatment at a hospital in Amsterdam Island (in southern Indian Ocean). And, a few days later, INS Satpura arrived and evacuated me,” he said. The naval officer had circumnavigated the globe in 2012-13, and was a special invitee at the race, which commemorates 50 years of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race 1968-69.

Survival was challenging for Tomy and other sailors, as the commemorative race had disallowed use of any modern equipment manufactured after 1968, in a bid to authentically recreate the race held half-a-century ago. — PTI