Commander Abhilash Tomy (CAT) told me this four years ago: “I need to close an unfinished business.” And the cool CAT closed it this April. He had abandoned Golden Globe Race 2018 after a brush with death in the southern Indian Ocean. Only a daredevil would race again in the world’s most challenging ocean adventure.
Sixteen world-class sailors attempted the nonstop solo Golden Globe Race 2022, the longest yachting event in the world. They sailed out of the French coastal town of Les Sables-d’Olonne on September 4, 2022. Nearly eight months later, the intrepid South African sailor, Kirsten Neuschäfer, made it back to the base in the early hours of April 27.
CAT returned a day later, on April 29, close behind her. It was 236 days of neck-and-neck sailing, and until the end, neither of them knew their ranking while circumnavigating the globe. Michael Guggenberger from Austria is likely to finish number three at least ten days later. All three deserve the world’s admiration.
The others who are still in the race will finish in the Chichester Class—a class lower than GGR, as they would have made a stop for supplies and repairs, or broken the seal on their GPS devices. While winning matters, staying safe till the very end is of paramount importance in this adventure across three oceans.
CAT knew it well. As part of the Indian Navy’s second Sagar Parikrama initiative, he circumnavigated the globe in 151 days on board the INSV Mhadei in 2013. It was also a nonstop solo. He then had the benefit of a satellite navigation system. President Pranab Mukherjee received CAT at the Gateway of India to mark that historic Mumbai to Mumbai voyage.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 14, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 14, 2023 من THE WEEK India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Pressure Points
Author and MP Shashi Tharoor and motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on how to find healing and meaning in today's world
War Over Wounded Earth
For the BJP andthe Congress, the ravaged farmlands of Vidarbha represent a cxitieal battleground in their larger struggle to win Maharashtra
Say no to continual elections
Following the recommendations of a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind to streamline the widely scattered schedule of national, state and local elections, the Union cabinet has reportedly approved two constitutional amendment bills for likely introduction in Parliament. Predictably, the return of the ‘one nation, one election’ issue to news has set off a flurry of objections by several opposition leaders.
Fabulously, fashionably funny
The third season of the Karan Johar-produced Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives dropped on Netflix, but articles criticising the show appear in some news site or the other almost daily. If it is so bad, why keep writing about it? And if it is so bad, why would the superpowers at Netflix, who are harder to meet than the prime minister, commission the show season after season?
All in the family
The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now
Raise a toast to Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is a New Year baby. At 45, she is aglow in the most beautiful way, having won the hearts and admiration of countless fans across the world, who watched the supremely talented actor take a public tumble on stage at a high-profile promotional event recently, sharing the platform with no less a dancer than the eternally graceful Madhuri Dixit.
Death no bar
Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States
The Lotus POTUS
You should visit us one of these days— there is so much excitement in our USA! No, I don’t mean the famous USA—the Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association of Mumbai.
RAY OF HOPE
Actor and cancer survivor Lisa Ray talks to oncologist Dr Jame Abraham about inner strength and her surrogacy journey
LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK
AT THE WEEK Health Summit, Siddharth Bagga, head (retail, CPG and health care), Google Cloud, elaborated on the significant work that Google has been doing in health care through artificial intelligence (AI).