Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Coward-McCann (1968), Edition: 1st
Description
This work tells the story of Frances Chicester, who aged 65, set out alone from Plymouth in his 53-foot ketch Gypsy Moth VI in August 1966 and sailed eastward around the world through the wild Southern Ocean, stopping only once - the first to accomplish this - in Sydney. Only nine yachts had previously circumnavigated by way of Cape Horn, and of them six had been capsized or somersaulted at least once. This 28,000-mile voyage, completed in May 1967, established new records for speed and endurance, captured the imagination of the world, and earned a knighthood for Chichester upon his return.
User reviews
LibraryThing member amerynth
Chichester's book details his solo sail around the world, which was the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by a single-handed vessel and it was the longest voyage by a solo vessel without a port of call. (He stopped only in Sydney, Australia during his voyage to and from Plymouth, England.)
His
His
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story in interesting and compelling. However, the book is not an easy read for a non-sailor... Chichester assumes you have sailing knowledge and his book is sprinkled with sailing terminology, which was not explained (at least in the 1968 edition.) I found other books about round the world voyages (including Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World" and Bernard Moitossier's "The Long Way") to be more accessible to a non-sailor. Show Less
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This is an amazing account of the trip around the world whch the author made alone in his sailing vesset, leaving Plymouth, England, on 27 Aug 1966 and making only one stop (in Sydney, Austrailia) and returning to Plymouth on May 28, 1967. He had huge amounts of trouble on the voyage, but got no
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help from anyone except when he was in Sydney. Some of the technical talk about sailing was of no interest to me, but the exceptional ability of the author to solve the troubles he underwent cannot but be admired. It is an exceptional story and I could not but rejoice over his completion successfuly of his endeavor. Show Less
LibraryThing member kenno82
It's hard to believe that just over 40 years ago, the feat of solo circumnavigation of the globe had only been achieved by a handful of people. This is a relatively straight forward read, with little self-reflection; however, the strength of Chichester's personality is clear through his writing.
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Chichester's achievements throughout his lifetime are simply amazing. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1967
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