Who was the first Indian to circumnavigate the world solo, non-stop ?

Commander Abhilash Tomy, a retired Indian naval officer was the first Indian to circumnavigate non-stop the World solo without any stops in 2013.

He sailed around 23,100 nautical miles, crossing the Indian, Southern, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.

His route, from West to East, took him south of the continents of Australia, South America and Africa, thus rounding the three “Great Capes” — Cape Leeuwin in Australia, Cape Horn in South America and Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

Abhilash entered the world of sailboats through Commander Dhonde – helping him prepare the INSV Mhadei and undertaking some sailing expeditions with him as well.

Over time, he started sailing alone and with other teams too. A part of the preparation for his solo voyage was spending time out at sea all by himself.

Finally, on 1st November 2012, he embarked on an adventure to become the first man to circumnavigate the world on a sailboat, from Mumbai. Over the course of this adventure, he encountered Cyclone Neelam in the Arabian Sea on the very next day, tackled a cold front once he crossed Australia and sustained temperatures as low as 4 degrees Celsius. Apart from that, there was always the fear of hailstorms, icebergs, dense fog and other dangers.

Over the course of his circumnavigation, Abhilash also celebrated the New Year and his birthday on board. He even successfully rounded Cape Horn, a process that is considered tougher than climbing Mount Everest. Only 79 people have successfully rounded it on a sailboat. He completed his journey on 31st March 2013 and reached shore on 1st April. Over the course of 150 days, he had traversed almost 40,000 km over the sea.