Golden Globe Race Fame Commander Abhilash Tomy Trains Female Navy Officers For 'Sagar Parikrama' Solo Global Circumnavigation

The training of Indian Navy female officers for India's first solo women's global circumnavigation under the Navy's 'Sagar Parikrama' initiative is in full swing, reported The Hindu.

They are being trained by former Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy, who gained fame from the Golden Globe Race 2022. He became the first Indian to complete the race in April, securing the second place just behind South African Kirsten Neuschafer.

Inspired by Commander Tomy's achievements, the Navy initiated the 'Sagar Parikrama' solo global circumnavigation programme, with the aim of having female officers undertake solo circumnavigation.

As part of this initiative, the Navy selected two female officers, Lieutenant Commander Dilna K and Lieutenant Commander Roopa Alagirisamy.

Lt. Commander Dilna K is a logistics officer while Lt. Commander Roopa Alagirisamy is a naval armament inspection officer. These women officers were a part of a batch of six female officers who participated in a trans-Atlantic Ocean race, 'The Cape 2 Rio Race.'

The two officers started sailing just two years ago, and in that short period of time, both have sailed more than 17,000 nautical miles, which is a remarkable achievement.

The first part of their training, according to a Times of India report, happened last year when they sailed to Kochi, Vishakapatnam and Mauritius.

The second part of their training completed when they sailed from Cape Town, South Africa and reached Rio De Janeiro, Brazil as part of the trans-Atlantic voyage and returned back to Goa.

During the race, they encountered bad weather, sometimes of over sea state 6 and 7, which also damaged their yacht, including breaking their sail, which they fixed promptly.

"The boat went through a very rough patch of weather for two days while she was south of Madagascar, which they very skillfully negotiated. The boat did experience many defects and damages to sail which they handled well," the TOI report says quoting a navy official.

When asked about his expectations from these officers, Commander Tomy stated, “From an instructor’s point of view, I would want them to be like a sponge so that they can absorb what I say and quickly replicate it.”

He also wants to assess their resilience, saying, "For a solo circumnavigation, he or she, needs to have all the skills of an entire village. Need to be a cook, electronics engineer, sails, weather, navigation and media. I have to really judge them on these terms."