'When I crossed that point where I had the accident, I felt light and that was a very physical experience. I felt something leave me.' Shyam G Menon chronicles the voyages of that incredible Indian sailor, Abhilash Tomy.
According to rescue officer Phil Gaden in Australia, Tomy had a severely injured back.
Retired from the Indian Navy, his passage in the Golden Globe Race wasn't easy. Although he kept himself in the basket of race leaders, the position revealed little of what he was actually enduring. Shyam Menon captures the drama of Abhilash Tomy's incredible solo voyage across the world.
Commander Tomy said he took early retirement from service to participate in the Golden Globe race in 2022.
'Very thankful to #IndianNavy & all who rescued me,' Tomy was quoted as saying in the Indian Navy spokesman's tweet.
Tomy was battling for life on the dismasted sailboat Thoriya with a severe back injury, the officials said.
Commander Abhilash Tomy KC, who is representing India in the Golden Globe Race, suffered a back injury on Friday after the yacht was dismasted due to extremely rough weather and sea conditions in the Indian Ocean.
Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy will set sail from France on the 30,000-mile Golden Globe Race only with a compass, printed maps, star and planetary movements and 140 litres of fuel.
'Although he was bed ridden most of the time he was in the vessel and unable to move on the upper deck, his condition is stable.'
The naval officer's father said he was tensed in the last three days after hearing the news about the incident. He said the family members would go Australia to meet his son he was taken there.
According to highly-placed railway officials, it was the pantry car manager who first noticed the burning wire and immediately halted the train by pulling emergency chain.
Singh, along with his wife and two children were in B-7 coach, one of the coaches of the Mumbai-Delhi train which were gutted between Alot and Thuriya stations in Ratlam district, scampered out of the burning bogey in the dead of the night.
Tomy has now been shifted to INHS Kalyani, the naval hospital of Eastern Naval Command, for observation and medical assistance as required.
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.
'He has dealt with such tremendous odds that he understands things at a level that not many people do.'
'If you are caught in a violent storm at sea you have to deal with it and find a way out which Abhilash Tomy did.'
Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy sailed the oceans and conquered likely death after a storm badly injured his spine and destroyed his boat. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met the decorated sailor who fought all odds to return home alive.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances