Eighty-two-year-old Venkatraman Radhakrishnan, a Chennai-born astrophysicist and son of Sir C.V. Raman, will soon set sail in a yacht in a bold attempt to circumnavigate the world solo. If he succeeds, he will be the oldest person to achieve the feat.
Spry despite his age, the steel in his eyes reflects the determination with which he is going about the task. After sailing for five decades, the intrepid adventurer in 2004 started planning the Eldemer — it was completed two years later — the craft that he will cast out to sea in after a couple of days, headed first for Thailand and Malaysia.
He will then head for the Solomon Islands and New Zealand before setting off across the Pacific. Stopovers will include the Cape of Horn in South America, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and then Mauritius, on the last leg of his journey before returning to Kochi.
However, the course he has charted is open to change.
“You cannot make fixed plans while sailing. Wind and weather decide your course. I hope to spend a month or two cruising in and around Malaysia,” Prof. Radhakrishnan says while giving finishing touches to the Eldemer along with his friends from the Kerala Yachting Association.
“This is an experimental sailing vessel designed, built and registered in India,” he adds, pointing to the boat. “Eldemer is the first indigenously-built yacht of its kind that will fly an Indian flag while sailing across the world.”
Prof. Radhakrishnan has sailed in the Eldemer with two friends to Sri Lanka, then Oman and Yemen and back to Kochi. Defence Research and Development Organisation, Indian Space Research Organisation, Bharat Electronics Ltd and the Indian Navy collaborated with the Raman Research Institute to build the vessel.
Even though Navy officer Dilip Donde became the first Indian to sail solo around the world in May this year, Prof. Radhakrishnan, an internationally reputed radio astronomer, says India is not a yachting country.