France: India's Abhilash Tomy made history by securing the second spot in the Golden Globe (GGR) race on Saturday. Abhilash Tomy's boat Bayanat reached the French coast on Saturday at 10.30 am IST, after sailing for 236 days.
The 44-year-old is the first Indian and Asian to finish the Golden Globe race.
Preparations are reportedly complete in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France to receive the Malayali sailor. Due to the sudden changes in the weather here in the North Atlantic region, the organizers were unable to accurately predict the time of Abhilash's arrival.
South Africa's 40-year-old sailor Kirsten Neuschafer, who finished in first place on Thursday night, was given a grand reception by the organizers. Kirsten took a few hours to cover the last 2–3 nautical miles as the sea suddenly became windless.
The race
The non-stop round-the-world race, which is the longest and slowest race in the world, began on September 4, 2022, with 16 participants. The event expects the participants to use technology that existed before 1968 and none of the modern cutting edge navigation equipment.
The race has only three participants remaining as the others retired midway due to technical failures or accidents. Each participant uses a simple yacht with hull lengths ranging between 32 and 36ft.
Abhilash, who took part in the race the previous edition in 2018 as well, had to retire midway after getting injured in the rough seas in the Indian Ocean. He was stranded, injured, in the ocean for three days until an aircraft picked him up. The season had 18 participants but only five of them could finish the race.
