Sir Francis Charles Chichester among other things is the greatest sailor the world has seen- A seadog who raised the bar of sailing beyond reach. This piece is a salute.
Born in 1901 in England to genteel parents, WW1 broke out with Francis fresh out of school.
Desperate to enlist Francis because of poor eyesight could not make it.
Emigrating to New Zealand at the age of 18 where. he built up a pretty big buzz in forestry and mining over the next 10 years. Francis was a successful entrepreneur. The Great Depression leveled it all.
He returned to England and after lessons qualified as a pilot.
After several attempts at solo flights to set records his navigational skills developed and he only bettered them using his head alone. That would come in handy later on.
At the age of 59 years, a lung cancer diagnosis presented a setback. With due care and medication, it went into remission. Sir Charles turned to the seas. The Gypsy Moth IV took birth.
Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
The Astonishing Sailing Route
Francis Chichester, on 26th August 1966 set sail from Plymouth harbor on Gypsy Moth IV. He returned home after sailing 226 days at sea. He clocked 15,517 nautical miles (28,500 land miles or 45,900 km). This was a record for the fastest circumnavigation by a small craft.
No ship Captain on Earth, (I would not even think about it), dare take on the two hostile capes- Horn and Good Hope as he did. And all on his own. Some guts.
He was 65 years at that time.
The Homecoming
Hail
Never Fear.
A credo to live and die for.
Guys, I have been airlifted from a ship half-dead, held up in a prison in Africa, and seen some heavy shit storms.
In the end, there is always fun, laughter, lovely people waiting for you. Hope is the faith that conquers fear.
Need to know about Sir Francis Chichester go here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Chichester
You need my help on anything here’s where you go to Contact