The story of Crowhurst one of the most amazing and saddest imaginable ... Great doco Deep Water on the race and the story of Crowhurst on youtube:

The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier. Great read. The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst is one of the most depressing stories I have ever read.

Ice Bird by David Lewis. Excellent read.

While some of the contestants like Moitessier, Commander King and Robin Knox Johnston were very experienced, Chay Blythe did not have much of a clue. He was very experienced at ocean rowing but apparently did not even like sailing. At the start of the race he had someone show him how to raise the sails and sailed alongside him for a few miles shouting instructions on how to sail. There was no qualifying sail prior to this race like modern solo events. Not sure how I would feel if I gave sailing instructions to a bloke and then watched him disappear over the horizon!
It is interesting in the interviews with the reporters how they built the story up from very little in the way of facts.

"A world of my own"

kitingtopher said..

I may seem ignorant as they did this the year I was born, but i Just read ( in 2 sittings ) a voyage for madmen, first single handed round the world yacht race with out outside help and it truly is an amazing story
Moitessier ,tetley, crowhurst,ridgeway,knox-johnson,king,blyth,fougeron,carozzo, all stories in themselves. I think I will chase their individual stories. very gutsy people any body know of associated books?

yes incredible story , i cant remember the title of the book i read on the story , .... i think it was written buy the globe journalist .

claverton .. thanks for the vid that was excellent .

A voyage for madmen is a great read. You may also be interested in books by sir Francis Chichester. He was rounding the worlds oceans almost ten years before Robin Knox. Find Francis' book called ( I think) "Gypsy moth sails the world". Back in '64 he had gypsy moth IV built and set off from Plymouth in '65. 119 days after his departure he was back in Plymouth. He achieved the record for fastest circumnavigation by a 'single hander', beaten only by the old clipper ships. In his own words "It's easy to keep a boat trimmed for maximum performance with a crew to tend to her 24/7". He didn't break the world solo record 'cause he stopped in Sydney, a planned stop over, for food & repairs to to gypsy moth, the yacht had 3 almost fatal flaws, 2 of which he only discovered after leaving Plymouth. He was capsized once to the north of New Zealand (took him days to clean up the cabin mess & retrieve crockery from the bilge) & came close to disaster more than once including hitting submerged objects, personal injury (chipped elbow bone, the door of the head hitting him in the head) & sliding broadsided down the face of big waves....in an 11 ton ketch, MY GOD...not my cup 'o' tea!. -----------------------------You may also like the story of 'Tsu Hang' (also the book title), a yacht owned by a husband & wife & sailed round the Horn. They sailed round Cape Horn even earlier than Chichester. They wrote a book called "Once is enough". The irony is ...they did the Cape Horn trip twice!. On one voyage they were pitchpoled (somersaulted bow first), the next they were capsized & dismasted. ------------------------------------One more book comes to mind, "Voyage" I think is the title. Again a husband & wife set off on an epic journey, it doesn't end well for either of them. The husband over sleeps & wakes to find his wife 'missing'. He checks the log book for the last entry to gauge the time he has been alone onboard. Then he checks the trailing line with the bottle attached that they both agreed to set behind the boat for just such an 'overboard' situation....the bottle is gone! He then turns the yacht around to retrace the path & hopefully find his wife.

pumpnjump said..

All good reads, and always something to learn, a couple more, Alec Rose, My Lively Lady, Tony Bullimore, Saved, and a couple of aussies, Kay Cottee, First Lady and Jesse Martin Lionheart.

Full credit to Kay Cottee but her book is boring. Very common at recycling shops.

The "live" blogs by Alex Whitworth and Peter Crosier during their circumnavigation in 2005 is the best sailing read I have seen. Still online at berrimilla.com/wordpress/
Many of you will know of it but for those who don't, the two of them, aged in their early 60s, did the S2H in Berrimilla, a Brolga 33, and then 2 handed from Hobart to do the Fastnet and then two handed back in time to do the next S2H. I have become acquainted with Alex since and he is a fascinating character, ex RN Fleet Air Arm observer on Sea Vixens, migrated out here in the 60s and is a sailing legend. He is also an exceptional writer with a great turn of phrase and wit.
Other Berri sailing notables include winning her class in the 98 S2H, rolling and losing her rig returning from Hobart a few years ago and a second circumnavigation when Alex and another crew member took Berri to the UK via the north west passage. Also a great read.
When it was live it was compulsory reading every few hours. At times you were anxious as to whether there would be another entry or they would succumb to the southern ocean not to be heard of again. Even now it is good reading.
The southern ocean bits on the way back and Pete's swim in the Atlantic on the way over (he went overboard while on watch alone) are worth a read by all sailors who think they know sailing and won't make basic mistakes.

On a separate sailing matter, I am in Edinburgh at the moment after 3 weeks in Ireland.In the past few weeks I've seen some of the best sailing locations. In Dingle Bay off south west Ireland and in the Forth estuary. We did a boat trip under the Firth of Forth bridge yesterday and there were a few yachts out in perfect 15kt breezes, wide open water with scenery to die for. I know in winter it is a different story but I now believe the stories I read of the summer sailing in these high latitudes. Beautiful conditions, scenery and many little harbours with welcoming pubs.

Find books on the subject of JOSHUA SLOCUM. Namely "Sailing alone around the world".



There's also a full length doco' on youtube. Joshua, a seasoned captain since the 1870's did his first solo round world trip in the 1890's I believe & was the first solo sailor ever to do it. There were many highs & lows to his story, being shipwrecked, subjected to mutiny & having his wife die suddenly of heart failure. She gave birth to their children at sea! Also building a sailing canoe from the remnants of his wrecked ship & then there's his prized yacht, "Spray". He purchased the abandoned oyster boat and spent the time rebuilding it, basically from the ground up. He then set sail on her. I believe he rounded the globe about 4 or 5 times in his life. This guy's story is a MUST READ for any modern sailor!

I have done a little bit of single handed sailing and without detracting from the achievements of the solo circumnavigators and others, I find it can be quite dangerous, and some might say irresponsible, but I definitely regard it as antisocial behaviour, only to be engaged in out of necessity and definitely not by choice.

When I am going sailing but have no companion, I will still go sailing. There will be seagulls on the beach at my next port of call.