AfiftTh-PThffftffiftff BflThft J/Afi 165- Sir Francis Chichester –
BRITISH YACHTSMAN Sir Francis Chichester’s name remains forever
engraved in the history of yachting as the first person to sail around
the world alone from west to east, along the fastest route available – the
Clipper Route.
During his pioneering solo exploit in 1966-1967, he was accompanied
by a no less hardy companion – a Rolex Oyster Perpetual – which took
the same drenching and scrapes as he did in the stormy oceans during the
months it took to accomplish the feat.
Sir Francis was given a hero’s welcome and knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II after his 226-day journey covering more than 29,500
nautical miles (about 47,600 kilometres) on the 16-metre (55-foot) ketch
Gipsy Moth IV.
Commissioned and built by Camper & Nicholson’s boatyard in Gosport,
Gipsy Moth IV was designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose for
the purpose of attempting an unimaginable feat of seamanship.
Sir Francis had dreamed of challenging the passage times of the
Clipper ships to Sydney, boats that by comparison represented five times
the waterline length of his proposed ketch.
He single-handedly sailed the same path as the speedy 19th-Century
ships with 20-strong crews that plied their trade between Europe and
the Far East, with a stopover in Australia. As a measure of his solo
exploit on board the mahogany-hulled yacht, the Clipper Route is
favoured by the most testing round-the-world yacht races, which only
appeared after his odyssey.
Sailing the length of the Atlantic Ocean south across the equator –
rounding the Cape of Good Hope and circumnavigating much of the
Southern Ocean past Cape Horn, for a return leg northwards along
the Atlantic – was the fastest and most direct way between the major
continents by sea before the Suez and Panama Canals were built.
Even today, it remains the most risky and adventurous, exposed
to the fiercest elements and long tracts of treacherous open sea, far
from land and rescue – despite the huge progress in communications
technology, navigation, boat building and safety – including the advent
of satellites since Gipsy Moth IV’s voyage.
The Rolex became a trusted navigational aid, as Sir Francis plotted
his position and course from the sun or the stars.A MOMENT
IN TIME
THE END OF AUGUST MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE SIR FRANCIS
CHICHESTER SET SAIL ON HIS GROUND-BREAKING SOLO
JOURNEY ABOARD GIPSY MOTH IV.
By Craig HurstSir Francis Chichester in Bucklers Hard, England, on December 7, 1970 as he prepares his sailboat,
the 17.10m Gipsy Moth V, for a 4,000 nautical mile solo voyage between Bissau (Portuguese
Guinea) and Juan Del Norte (Nicaragua).PHOTO: KEYSTONE-FRANCE/GAMMA-KEYSTONE VIA GETTY IMAGES