Francis Chichester, the first great “amateur” loner in history

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1960: Francis Chichester aboard his ketch rigged yacht Gipsy Moth III
We are introducing you to the 30 legends of sailing. Now it is your turn to choose the greatest sailor of all time.

30 Sailors of History QOK.qxd:Layout 1At 65 years old, he circumnavigated the globe solo on his Gypsy Moth IV rounding the three great capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn), taking 274 days between 1966 and ’67. The first great navigator of contemporary times, the first to succeed (Slocum had taken three years but without rounding all the capes): and to think that the passion for the sea to him, a lover of aviation, had risen very late.

Image fA few years earlier, in 1960, he organized a regatta that immediately became a “must” for every ocean sailor, the Ostar. He had even managed to win the first edition; four years later he came second. Not content with that, after being made a baronet by the queen for his round-the-world flight, at age 69 he traveled 1,000 miles in five days in the Caribbean Sea. He died in 1972.

Because: Chichester is the first great lone navigator of the contemporary era.

IS HE THE GREATEST IN YOUR OPINION? VOTE IT HERE!

DISCOVER ALL THE STORIES OF THE 30 SAILING LEGENDS HERE

Ben Ainslie
Peter Blake
Dee Caffari
Franck Cammas
Paul Cayard
Francis Chichester
Dennis Conner
Russell Coutts
Laura Dekker
Michel Desjoyeaux
Alexander Di Benedetto
Vito Dumas
Paul Elvstrom
Ambrose Fogar
François Gabart
Torben Grael
Francis Joyon
Robin Knox-Johnston
Ellen MacArthur
Bernard Moitessier
Mauro Pelaschier
Loick Peyron
Cino Ricci
Alessandra Sensini
Ernest Shackleton
Joshua Slocum
John Soldini
Agostino Straulino
Eric Tabarly
Vasco Vascotto

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