Single handed sailing
Discussion
Simes205 said:
Read (sir) Robin Knox Johnstons book for an idea.
Fixed that for you. 
A more interesting story, same race, was from Bernard Moitissier;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier
Basically, he got all around the world, was due to win the race, but bottled it at the last minute coming up the Atlantic. He turned around and went round again.
Very interesting documentary about this on TV a while ago, where they interviewed his wife. I always thought he must have been bonkers to go round again after everything he must have been through, then I saw his wife.... She was, well, a 'character'.
An even MORE interesting story, same race, was from Donald Crowhurst.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst
There's an excellent documentary on him too, called 'Deep Water'. Well recommended.
"A Race for Madmen" covers the race and the main protagonists. Agree that the the Crowhurst story is fascinating and the excerpts from his log make for quite harrowing reading. the crazy thing about that race was the lack of experience some of the entrants had. Blyth in particular had very little sailing experience IIRC.
as others have said, barring any damage to the boat, avoiding big open seas where you could get battered and swamped or a medical situation, you could stay alive for years with a fishing rod and a device to collect rain water.
as others have said, barring any damage to the boat, avoiding big open seas where you could get battered and swamped or a medical situation, you could stay alive for years with a fishing rod and a device to collect rain water.
There are certainly plenty of "characters" in single handed long distance sailing.
Shane Acton's book on his 19' (?) plywood yacht Shrimpy was quite entertaining IIRC. He had no experience either, but crossed the Atlantic I think - using a school atlas for navigation.
Webb Chiles sailed most of the way around the world in a Drascombe Lugger (open dayboat).
Mike Goldings' RTW the wrong way is also a good read.
Shane Acton's book on his 19' (?) plywood yacht Shrimpy was quite entertaining IIRC. He had no experience either, but crossed the Atlantic I think - using a school atlas for navigation.
Webb Chiles sailed most of the way around the world in a Drascombe Lugger (open dayboat).
Mike Goldings' RTW the wrong way is also a good read.
I remember reading 'Shrimpy' years ago - a good, memorable and inspiring read. The Donald Crowhurst book is something else, gripping and horrifying in equal measure. It affected me quite deeply to be honest, I wonder how many people who push to their mental limits get a glimpse of the terrible darkness that consumed Crowhurst?
The Crowhurst story haunted me for a while too, utterly harrowing stuff about a fairly normal guy (albeit a bit of a dreamer maybe?) who got in too deep and had no way out.
The interview with his son and wife in 'Deep Water' is fascinating.
And the funny thing is, even though he was a 'cheat', he actually broke some records along the way and was undertaking some groundbreaking stuff with sailing, with almost no experience and a boat that was nowhere near finished. Stanley Best (the investor, who told him 'If you don't make it, you're ruined') came out of it looking like a prize s
t, and rightly so. He pretty much sent the poor guy out there to die, one way or another.
The legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, even though he should have been utterly scathing at somebody else trying to cheat his way to what he had actually achieved honestly, donated his prize winnings (not an insignificant amount of money) to Crowhurst's widow. Later quoted as saying "None of us must judge him too harshly".
The race was totally full of 'characters', fascinating people who probably deserve a lot more admiration than they get now. Of course we all know that Sir Robin won, but hardly anybody remembers Nigel Tetley, who would have won if Crowhurst hadn't falsified his logs and reported positions, and the poor chap ended up killing himself too.
Anything to do with the Golden Globe race is fascinating, I would wholly recommend looking in to it further if you ever get chance.
The interview with his son and wife in 'Deep Water' is fascinating.
And the funny thing is, even though he was a 'cheat', he actually broke some records along the way and was undertaking some groundbreaking stuff with sailing, with almost no experience and a boat that was nowhere near finished. Stanley Best (the investor, who told him 'If you don't make it, you're ruined') came out of it looking like a prize s
t, and rightly so. He pretty much sent the poor guy out there to die, one way or another.The legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, even though he should have been utterly scathing at somebody else trying to cheat his way to what he had actually achieved honestly, donated his prize winnings (not an insignificant amount of money) to Crowhurst's widow. Later quoted as saying "None of us must judge him too harshly".
The race was totally full of 'characters', fascinating people who probably deserve a lot more admiration than they get now. Of course we all know that Sir Robin won, but hardly anybody remembers Nigel Tetley, who would have won if Crowhurst hadn't falsified his logs and reported positions, and the poor chap ended up killing himself too.
Anything to do with the Golden Globe race is fascinating, I would wholly recommend looking in to it further if you ever get chance.
Another 'character' for single-handed sailing, the guy that started the 'Jester Challenge'.
Another fascinating sailor to read about!
http://www.jesterinfo.org/
All started by Mike Richey.
This is worth reading;
http://www.jesterinfo.org/onreflectionfebruary1996...
The last couple of paragraphs, and especially the last sentence always make me chuckle.
"I remember one occasion when people certainly came into it, many years ago, cruising in Jester somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores, again on my own. I had not seen a ship for weeks, but one day awoke from a nap, unexpectedly but with no sense of urgency, to put my head out of the side hatch, saying as I did so, 'Hello, there are people about'. A few miles away there was a Portuguese survey vessel, obviously from her slow speed taking a line of soundings. I would have been most surprised to have seen nothing. The feeling that human beings were about was very strong. There may have been nothing to it; but if an explanation is sought, I would not find coincidence a persuasive one.
Of course, the evidence in such matters is almost entirely subjective, not really the stuff of scientific investigation, and the matter itself of no real importance to seafaring. Nevertheless, all the evidence of those who sail alone seems to indicate that being awakened in time to avoid collision happens too frequently to attribute it to coincidence. The evidence of those who have not been awakened in time is, needless to say, not available."
Copyright © Mike Richey (Yachting Monthly February 1996)
Another fascinating sailor to read about!
http://www.jesterinfo.org/
All started by Mike Richey.
This is worth reading;
http://www.jesterinfo.org/onreflectionfebruary1996...
The last couple of paragraphs, and especially the last sentence always make me chuckle.
"I remember one occasion when people certainly came into it, many years ago, cruising in Jester somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores, again on my own. I had not seen a ship for weeks, but one day awoke from a nap, unexpectedly but with no sense of urgency, to put my head out of the side hatch, saying as I did so, 'Hello, there are people about'. A few miles away there was a Portuguese survey vessel, obviously from her slow speed taking a line of soundings. I would have been most surprised to have seen nothing. The feeling that human beings were about was very strong. There may have been nothing to it; but if an explanation is sought, I would not find coincidence a persuasive one.
Of course, the evidence in such matters is almost entirely subjective, not really the stuff of scientific investigation, and the matter itself of no real importance to seafaring. Nevertheless, all the evidence of those who sail alone seems to indicate that being awakened in time to avoid collision happens too frequently to attribute it to coincidence. The evidence of those who have not been awakened in time is, needless to say, not available."
Copyright © Mike Richey (Yachting Monthly February 1996)
maser_spyder said:
Another 'character' for single-handed sailing, the guy that started the 'Jester Challenge'.
Another fascinating sailor to read about!
http://www.jesterinfo.org/
All started by Mike Richey.
This is worth reading;
http://www.jesterinfo.org/onreflectionfebruary1996...
The last couple of paragraphs, and especially the last sentence always make me chuckle.
"I remember one occasion when people certainly came into it, many years ago, cruising in Jester somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores, again on my own. I had not seen a ship for weeks, but one day awoke from a nap, unexpectedly but with no sense of urgency, to put my head out of the side hatch, saying as I did so, 'Hello, there are people about'. A few miles away there was a Portuguese survey vessel, obviously from her slow speed taking a line of soundings. I would have been most surprised to have seen nothing. The feeling that human beings were about was very strong. There may have been nothing to it; but if an explanation is sought, I would not find coincidence a persuasive one.
Of course, the evidence in such matters is almost entirely subjective, not really the stuff of scientific investigation, and the matter itself of no real importance to seafaring. Nevertheless, all the evidence of those who sail alone seems to indicate that being awakened in time to avoid collision happens too frequently to attribute it to coincidence. The evidence of those who have not been awakened in time is, needless to say, not available."
Copyright © Mike Richey (Yachting Monthly February 1996)
I was chatting to a work colleague not so long ago who mentioned that he had a teacher who had "done a bit of sailing" - turned out it was Blondie Hasler - he had no idea he was being taught by a sailing legend!Another fascinating sailor to read about!
http://www.jesterinfo.org/
All started by Mike Richey.
This is worth reading;
http://www.jesterinfo.org/onreflectionfebruary1996...
The last couple of paragraphs, and especially the last sentence always make me chuckle.
"I remember one occasion when people certainly came into it, many years ago, cruising in Jester somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores, again on my own. I had not seen a ship for weeks, but one day awoke from a nap, unexpectedly but with no sense of urgency, to put my head out of the side hatch, saying as I did so, 'Hello, there are people about'. A few miles away there was a Portuguese survey vessel, obviously from her slow speed taking a line of soundings. I would have been most surprised to have seen nothing. The feeling that human beings were about was very strong. There may have been nothing to it; but if an explanation is sought, I would not find coincidence a persuasive one.
Of course, the evidence in such matters is almost entirely subjective, not really the stuff of scientific investigation, and the matter itself of no real importance to seafaring. Nevertheless, all the evidence of those who sail alone seems to indicate that being awakened in time to avoid collision happens too frequently to attribute it to coincidence. The evidence of those who have not been awakened in time is, needless to say, not available."
Copyright © Mike Richey (Yachting Monthly February 1996)
s2kjock said:
I was chatting to a work colleague not so long ago who mentioned that he had a teacher who had "done a bit of sailing" - turned out it was Blondie Hasler - he had no idea he was being taught by a sailing legend!
I have been trying to plough through a Blondie Hasler biography but it is painfully dry in style and sadly doesn't seem to do justice to the subject.A less well-known single-handed nutter (said in the most complimentary way possible) is this guy:
http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Mingming.html
He sails a 19-foot bilge-keeler single-handed and has gone to such places as Spitzbergen and Greenland...
http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Mingming.html
He sails a 19-foot bilge-keeler single-handed and has gone to such places as Spitzbergen and Greenland...
AlexiusG55 said:
A less well-known single-handed nutter (said in the most complimentary way possible) is this guy:
http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Mingming.html
He sails a 19-foot bilge-keeler single-handed and has gone to such places as Spitzbergen and Greenland...
What an interesting Guy. I share his philosphy. Keep it simple!http://www.thesimplesailor.com/Mingming.html
He sails a 19-foot bilge-keeler single-handed and has gone to such places as Spitzbergen and Greenland...
Thanks for sharing that. It'll give me inspiration when I need it
How about a 'motorcruiser' powered by a 2.5hp Tohatsu outboard? I met this guy in Antigua and the boat is tiny.
http://www.tohatsu.com/news/seiko.html
http://www.tohatsu.com/news/seiko.html
Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff