Teignmouth Electron
Discussion
Is supposed to be on Cayman Brac (well documented - albeit run over by a JCB last year and very little left now), so why did I just see the centre section going southbound on the M3 near Winchester?
A bit of googling came up with this;
http://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teignmout...
A new movie with Colin Firth? Sincerely hope so. Deep Water was excellent, very moving, but I'm always keen to hear new stories on the amazing event.
Had to do a double take when I saw the truck on the opposite carriageway...
A bit of googling came up with this;
http://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Teignmout...
A new movie with Colin Firth? Sincerely hope so. Deep Water was excellent, very moving, but I'm always keen to hear new stories on the amazing event.
Had to do a double take when I saw the truck on the opposite carriageway...
Hard-Drive said:
That boat looks absolutely nothing like Teignmouth Electron. TE was a ketch for starters!
Would agree - it's a Tri of about the same length; that's about where the likeness ends.I have to say, the whole Crowhurst/ Teignmouth Electron story fascinates me, not least because it shows how technology has revolutionised the world in in under 50 years - the fraud that Crowhurst could probably have perpetrated had he held his nerve/sanity would be unthinkable now.
I also think that Robin K-J's sportsmanship in awarding his prize money to Crowhurst's widow Claire has never really been recognised for the honourable act that it was, given that Robin was hardly a rich man himself.
I only saw the middle section, on the back of a lorry (hence no masts) going the other way, so not much time to take it in!
Spotted the name on the front and the distinctive stern shape, that was about all.
I knew straight away it couldn't have been the real one as I've checked for updates on it recently and I know it's now pretty much destroyed, but it was a bit odd to see it.
Spotted the name on the front and the distinctive stern shape, that was about all.
I knew straight away it couldn't have been the real one as I've checked for updates on it recently and I know it's now pretty much destroyed, but it was a bit odd to see it.
Crowhurst was an amateur sailor who had a failing business making electronic navigational aids for yachts. To promote the business and win sponsorship/ endorsement money, he decided to enter the first non stop round the world yacht race. His boat was a cheaply built trimaran called the Teignmouth Electron, totally incapable of coping with the southern ocean and he was, at best, a marginally competent ocean yachtsman.
Knowing he couldn't hope to survive a genuine circuit, he sailed to the South American Coast, loitered for a few months, aiming to rejoin the back of the fleet as they returned to the UK. Because of withdrawals, he was always going to come in the top 3 if he 'finished' and, as the leader withdrew after he re-joined he was on to win. He knew that his log book would never stand up to independent scrutiny and, realising that he was facing ruin, committed suicide by jumping off the yacht.
Robin Knox-Johnson who eventually did win, on hearing the full story, donated his prize money to Crowhurst's destitute widow and four children.
Knowing he couldn't hope to survive a genuine circuit, he sailed to the South American Coast, loitered for a few months, aiming to rejoin the back of the fleet as they returned to the UK. Because of withdrawals, he was always going to come in the top 3 if he 'finished' and, as the leader withdrew after he re-joined he was on to win. He knew that his log book would never stand up to independent scrutiny and, realising that he was facing ruin, committed suicide by jumping off the yacht.
Robin Knox-Johnson who eventually did win, on hearing the full story, donated his prize money to Crowhurst's destitute widow and four children.
There was a teignmouth electron in Bristol docks yesterday at 1500ish so I assume they have a few for filming in different locations. I had to do a double take but didn't have a camera on me!
The RKJ book a world of my own is good and the A Voyage for madmen book is a good read too. Hopefully it's a good film, the Crowhurst story in particular is fascinating but there were other characters in the race wholly unprepared for what lay ahead.
Slightly less interesting but I spotted Ayesha of St Mawes in Milford Haven, the owner did OSTAR and that too is a good read
The RKJ book a world of my own is good and the A Voyage for madmen book is a good read too. Hopefully it's a good film, the Crowhurst story in particular is fascinating but there were other characters in the race wholly unprepared for what lay ahead.
Slightly less interesting but I spotted Ayesha of St Mawes in Milford Haven, the owner did OSTAR and that too is a good read
fatboy69 said:
So what is the story & the fraud which is mentioned a couple of posts back.
Donald Crowhurst was an Electronics entrepreneur and weekend sailor who entered the worlds first single handed round the world yacht race. He had a boat built and told everyone how he was going to computerise it, win the race, and publicise his electronics firm.The boat wasn't really a suitable design, it was badly built and completed very late. So Donald Crowhurst had to set off without being properly prepared.
By the time he got halfway down the Atlantic it was clear that the boat would fall to bits if he took it into the Southern Ocean, but he couldn't pull out without having to repay the sponsorship money. So he hit on the idea of announcing that his radio was playing up, sailing round in circles in the Atlantic for a few weeks then finishing in a respectable third place claiming to have sailed round the world.
All went well until he got back on the radio to announce he was back in the Atlantic having gone round the world and making good time for home. The boat in front of him broke up shortly afterwards, possibly because the sailor was pushing too hard to keep ahead of Crowhurst, and by this time one other contestant had finished, one given up and carried on for a second lap of the world, and all the others sunk. So Donald suddenly found himself on schedule to win the prize for fastest trip. This was a disaster because his faked logs would never stand up to a detailed examination.
He stopped communicating, his boat was found without him in it, and the two sets of logs discovered. Together with a few cryptic notes that made it clear what had happened and that Crowhurst had ended up going completely mad, even by the standards of solo round the world yachtsmen.
A tragic story, he was a very bright guy and by all accounts a basically good bloke, just a bit of a fantasist. Think Dell Boy with an Electronics degree.
There is a good documentary on this DVD.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Water-DVD-Louise-Osmo...
He was a fraud, but was pushed in to it by his financial backers (who would refuse to pay if he didn't make it back, meaning financial ruin if he retired from the race) and perhaps a bit of over-optimism of exactly what he was attempting to do.
In actual fact, he set some real records at the time for a Trimaran (can't remember exactly what) so in some ways, was successful and pioneering.
A desperately sad tale and truly fascinating.
Sir Robin's quote sums it all up. "We must none us judge him too harshly." Legend.
In actual fact, he set some real records at the time for a Trimaran (can't remember exactly what) so in some ways, was successful and pioneering.
A desperately sad tale and truly fascinating.
Sir Robin's quote sums it all up. "We must none us judge him too harshly." Legend.
The irony is that preparing fake logs the way he did, working out a believable position then back calculating sextant readings was considerably more difficult than real navigation. He wasn't an experienced sailor, but then neither were many of the contestants. Chay Blyth for example had far les experience than Crowhurst and basically taught himself to sail en route.
If he'd had another few months to prepare, the outcome might well have been very different too. Although his boat was thrown together at the last minute and was ill-prepared for the journey, had it been properly tested over a decent period of time, he might even have won.
Sir Robin's yacht was dependable, but very slow.
I'd be interested to know more about the public mood when they found out he'd cheated. Was he a devil figure at the time? Perhaps time has been kind to him, as looking back, there seems to be a fair bit of sympathy for him.
Sir Robin's yacht was dependable, but very slow.
I'd be interested to know more about the public mood when they found out he'd cheated. Was he a devil figure at the time? Perhaps time has been kind to him, as looking back, there seems to be a fair bit of sympathy for him.
maser_spyder said:
If he'd had another few months to prepare, the outcome might well have been very different too. Although his boat was thrown together at the last minute and was ill-prepared for the journey, had it been properly tested over a decent period of time, he might even have won.
Sir Robin's yacht was dependable, but very slow.
I'd be interested to know more about the public mood when they found out he'd cheated. Was he a devil figure at the time? Perhaps time has been kind to him, as looking back, there seems to be a fair bit of sympathy for him.
Talking to my old man who was active in RORC at the time, the Crowhurst story was rather eclipsed by Robin and the event as a whole. To the extent he got much airtime, it was as a tragic and best glossed over footnote; it was only in the 80s and 90s that the story began to take hold. I think the fact that his widow didn't really want the story getting too much attention contributed. She didn't speak to the press until the film was released and never told her children what really happened to their father. I seem to recall that their eldest first found out in the early 80s when he read the story in a sailing bookSir Robin's yacht was dependable, but very slow.
I'd be interested to know more about the public mood when they found out he'd cheated. Was he a devil figure at the time? Perhaps time has been kind to him, as looking back, there seems to be a fair bit of sympathy for him.
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