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Abhilash Tomy waves as he leaves for the round-the-world non-stop race. But now is injured and unable even to move to his communication devises. Photo: Golden Globe Race/Instagram

Australia joins mission to rescue stricken Indian sailor injured during solo non-stop circumnavigation

‘Survival mode’ for round the world sailors battered by storm as Australia joins rescue effort for Abhilash Tomy after his boat’s mast snapped

India

Australia joined an international mission to rescue an injured Indian sailor stranded in the Indian Ocean while competing in the round-the-world Golden Globe Race on Sunday, but the nearest boat is days away.

The mast of Abhilash Tomy’s yacht Thuriya broke off when it was rolled in a storm on Friday and the yachtsman suffered what he described as a “severe back injury”.

The 39-year-old Indian navy commander was “incapacitated on his bunk inside his boat” some 3,704 kilometres off Western Australia, organisers said.

Two P8 Poseidons, one from the Royal Australian Air Force and another from the Indian armed forces, flew over the yacht to inspect it Sunday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.

AMSA, which is coordinating the search, said the crews saw that the yacht was dismasted but did not get further information about Tomy’s condition.

 

“He is injured inside the yacht, so he can’t communicate further,” an AMSA spokesman said.

Tomy was communicating with organisers via a YB3 texting unit but his main satellite phone was damaged, and his injury meant he was unable to reach a second satellite phone or hand held VHF radio.

The yacht’s location is so remote that a French fisheries patrol vessel in the area which has been tasked by AMSA to join the rescue was only likely to reach Tomy on Monday or Tuesday.

The Australian Defence Force said on Sunday it would also assist in the rescue, with the frigate HMAS Ballarat sailing from Perth late on Saturday towards the yacht.

Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail non-stop around the world, in Hong Kong promoting the Clipper 2002 Round the World 2002. Photo: Edward Wong

The Golden Globe Race involves a gruelling 48,200km non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe. The race took place in 1968 and is being hosted again to mark the 50 year anniversary. Competitors are only allowed to use boats and technology available to the sailors in the first addition, except for a couple of pieces of communication and safety equipment.

In 1968, only Robin Knox-Johnson finished. Most competitors did not make it out of the Atlantic and into the Southern Ocean. Those that did were: Bernard Moitessier, who decided to keep on sailing instead of trying to win the race and completed another half loop of the world to save his soul, as he put it.

 

Nigel Tetly sank and was rescued painfully close to the end of the race because he pushed his boat too hard under the impression he might be overtaken by fellow competitor Donald Crowhurst.

Crowhurst looked sure to complete the faster, if not the first, circumnavigation as all the competitors set off at different times. But his boat was mysteriously found empty. Examination of Crowhurst’s logs showed he had never left the Atlantic and had been lying about his position.

The shame of being found out upon arrival home drove him insane and he committed suicide by jumping overboard. His story has been retold in books, documentaries and a film staring Colin Firth called The Mercy.

Tomy’s own yacht is a replica of Knox-Johnston’s boat Suhail.

 
Other competitors in this year’s race are also suffering after a large storm battered the fleet. Mark Slats, who set the world record for rowing solo across the Atlantic earlier this year, said his doors have been ruptured, adding his was in “survival mode”.

“[The] boat is full of water and fire on board,” Slats, Dutch, said via text message. “I can repair most, but I want to be ahead of the storm and survive.”

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