Forty years ago this summer nine men set out in a race to be the first to sail single handedly non-stop around the world. Their boats and equipment were nothing like the high-tech racing craft of today, with satellite communications and contact with family and supporters all the way.
Most of them found loneliness was a particular problem along with the ever present risk of physical injury. Medical treatment was very much a do-it-yourself operation.
Four of the nine — John Ridgway, Chay Blyth, Loïck Fougeron and Bill King — all retired well before the halfway mark, their boats or spirits broken by the power of the ocean. Alex Carozzo retired vomiting blood because of a peptic ulcer.
The tragic voyage of Donald Crowhurst ended in his disappearance, apparently committing suicide. Realising he had no chance of surviving the Southern Ocean he tried to cheat by pretending to race on while aimlessly cruising in the lonely Atlantic Ocean and sending deliberately misleading radio bulletins.
Only Nigel Tetley, Bernard Moitessier and Robin Knox-Johnson rounded Cape Horn. Tetley, believing Crowhurst was close behind, raced his fragile craft until she broke up and sank just over 1,000 miles from the finishing line. He was rescued, but he found it impossible to return to normal life and later committed suicide.
Knox-Johnson’s vessel, Suhaili, was built in India. She was heavy, built of solid teak, and therefore slow. She carried a huge quantity of food and spares, including 1,500 tins of corned beef, stewing steak and baked beans. He hoped to increase his speed as he ate his way through his stores.
In contrast, Moitessier’s craft, Joshua, was stripped of any excess weight. He appeared to live on fresh air, and his yacht, although made of steel, was more of an ocean racer.
The race had two targets, first round and fastest home, as the men started at different times between June and October 1968. Although Moitessier set off long after Knox-Johnson most experts reckoned he would overtake Suhaili in a close finish. If not first home, he would certainly be fastest round.
Knox-Johnson rounded Cape Horn first. Moitessier was catching up but as he entered the South Atlantic he decided against fame and fortune. Instead of heading home he continued across the Southern Ocean and ended up in Tahiti. It was, he said, “to save my soul”. Well, Plymouth or Tahiti? Which would you choose?
The only one of the nine to complete the circumnavigation was Knox-Johnson. Although he wrote of his loneliness, he was reported to be “disturbingly normal” by a psychiatrist who carried out a post-race medical.
