GOLDEN GLOBE RACE - SPORTS
News: Explained
| What is the Golden Globe Race, the voyage of mad men?
What's in the news?
● Abhilash Tomy, former
Commander in the Indian Navy who became the first Indian to go around the world
on a sailboat solo and unassisted back in
2013, has now attained another record of completing a solo circumnavigation
under even more grueling circumstances when he made podium finish at the Golden
Globe Race (GGR), 2022, on April 29.
● He
finished second after South African Kirsten Neuschäfer.
Golden Globe Race (GGR):
● The
historic race is being conducted by the
K.’s Sir Robin Knox Johnston, to commemorate the world’s first solo
non-stop circumnavigation undertaken by him in 1968, onboard the Indian-built
boat Suhaili.
● Participants
in the GGR are required to sail around
the world, single-handed and non-stop.
● The
uniqueness of the race is that boat
designs and technology newer than 1968 are not permitted.
● Also
the use of the Global Positioning System
(GPS), satellite communication and navigational aids are forbidden in the
30,000 mile journey.
● The
sailors each have a satellite phone and
emergency locator beacons to be used for medical emergencies only.
● Entrants
are limited to sailing similar yachts, between 32 ft and 36 ft, designed prior
to 1988 with a full-length keel with a rudder.
● Equipment
similar to what was available to Sir Robin in that first race was to be used.
● 16 sailors from 11
countries departed from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France.
● Sail
solo, non-stop around the world, via the
five Great Capes and return to Les Sables-d’Olonne.
Cdr. Abhilash Tommy:
● Abilash
Tommy is the only Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the
globe in 2012-13, onboard the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Mhadei,
covering 53,000 nautical miles under sail.
● The
naval veteran had been critically injured in a storm when he competed in the
GGR in 2018 and had a spinal injury. The mast of his boat Thuriyabroke due to
extremely rough weather and sea conditions.