This work tells the story of Frances Chichester, 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.
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Editorial Reviews
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"...a report by a great adventurer, who also happens to be a writer, of one of man's greatest of lonely enterprises." -- Harper's
"...reminds us how men can transcend their apparent physical limitations when they are doing something that they very much want to do." -- Economist
"A moving story of conquest by the unquenchable human spirit, a determined old man's gesture of defiance at the moden world..." -- Alan Villiers, Saturday Review
"Chichester.. reawaken[s] the world to man's capacity to seek and to endure.He has served men by living their dreams..." -- Time
"...reminds us how men can transcend their apparent physical limitations when they are doing something that they very much want to do." -- Economist
"A moving story of conquest by the unquenchable human spirit, a determined old man's gesture of defiance at the moden world..." -- Alan Villiers, Saturday Review
"Chichester.. reawaken[s] the world to man's capacity to seek and to endure.He has served men by living their dreams..." -- Time
From the Back Cover
"Sir Francis Chichester has become a genuine hero--perhaps the greatest of the adventurers of his time."--Time
The delight in stories well told is as intrinsic to who we are as a species as toolmaking or song. And from time immemorial, few narrative genres have had the power to so stir the emotions or captivate the imagination as the true account of a lone adventurer's triumph over the titanic forces of nature. Among the handful of such tales to emerge in the twentieth century, one of the most enduring surely must be Sir Francis Chichester's account of his solitary, nine-month journey around the world in his 53-foot ketch Gipsy Moth IV. The story of how the sixty-five-year-old navigator single-handedly circumnavigated the globe, the whole way battling hostile seas as well as his boat's numerous design flaws, is a tale of superhuman tenacity and endurance to be read and reread by sailors and armchair adventurers alike.
This handsome first volume in The Sailor's Classics series restores in its entirety for a new generation of readers Francis Chichester's extraordinarily candid personal account of his adventure. First published in 1967, just months after the completion of Chichester's historic journey, Gipsy Moth Circles the World was an instant international best-seller. It inspired the first solo around-the-world race and remains a timeless testament to the spirit of adventure. The Sailor's Classics edition features a new introduction by series editor Jonathan Raban.
"A remarkable feat, a moving story of conquest by the unquenchable human spirit, a determined old man's gesture of defiance at the modern world. Such was the voyage; his book is a fine account of it with nothing left out."--Alan Villiers, Saturday Review
"Sir Francis Chichester has managed to reawaken the world to one man's capacity to seek and to endure. He has served men by living their dreams of acting with tenacity and courage under pressure."--Time
"We get the day-to-day story of the planning, the decisions, his own lively reports of what the days and nights were like, the good and bad adventures . . . This is not a log that one can sum up. It is a report by a great adventurer, who also happens to be a writer, of one of man's greatest of lonely enterprises."--Harper's
"Chichester's extraordinary feat was the result of constant unremitting attention to detail. . . . Above all [his] narrative reminds us how men can transcend their apparent physical limitations when they are doing something that they very much want to do. He admits to being frightened. . . . He would indeed be superhuman had he never wavered. But it is the Chichester who puts on a green velvet smoking jacket to celebrate his 65th birthday that one comes back to, the Chichester who sheds a tear while enjoying a bottle of Montrachet on his wedding anniversary, Chichester the happy man."--Economist
"At an age when most of us are staying in armchairs, the 65-year-old Sir Francis Chichester accomplished the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a small sailing vessel . . . and wrote the story of his adventure in a book that will be read for as long as its great predecessors, such as Joshua Slocum."--Library Journal
"Chichester's voyage was a classic of its kind. His book is a classic document of self-punishing endurance. Chichester was in his own way an explorer in the tradition of Scott and Shackleton. Unlike Scott and Shackleton, in these pages he bares himself and his mood swings to the reader's gaze, and one is privileged to be his intimate on this loneliest and most harrowing of voyages."--from the introduction by Jonathan Raban
The Sailor's Classics presents the best writing about the sea as observed from the perspective of a small boat under sail. The stories range from pensive cruises in sheltered waters to tales of endurance and high adventure.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Actually, a book about "British understatement" ...,
By
This review is from: Gipsy Moth Circles the World (Paperback)
I recall the thrill and deep emotion that came over me in 1967 when I saw TV coverage of England welcoming home Francis Chichester (soon to be "Sir Francis") from his "singlehander" circumnavigation of the planet. (I still tear up thinking about it.) I am not especially Anglophilic, but the man and the moment epitomized for this American all that is great and good about England and her people, even if the British Empire ain't what it used to be (which is very likely a good thing).
Alas, almost four decades later, I didn't find Chichester's memoir of the voyage an especially engaging read. "British understatement" is an understatement. One can admire the man's restraint in not overdramatizing the more perilous episodes of the voyage -- capsizing off Australia, rounding the Horn, etc. -- but the drama that certainly did accompany this maritime feat is hardly there at all. Nor is there a strong sense of the emotional and physical toll on a 65-year-old man (however fit) of operating a 53-foot sailing vessel 'round the clock, alone, for 226 days, snatching sleep a few hours at a time. Much of the routine is ... well, routine, and it begins to run together after a few chapters. Chichester's mostly matter-of-fact recounting of the voyage is full of details about sails, masts, booms, navigation and other nautical equipment and tasks, details that are likely going to leave most 'lubbers (such as myself) a bit glassy-eyed. Find yourself a sailor's glossary, because there's none in this account. Although the book contains boat diagrams and a sail plan, keeping track of the genoas, staysails, and jibs becomes stultifying. There is also several pages' discourse on supplies and foodstuffs one would want for a long ocean voyage. (Take plenty of fresh eggs, but paint them with beeswax before stowage!) In an epilogue, J.R.L. Anderson, himself no slouch of a sailor, and a more polished writer, succeeds in putting Chichester's achievement in perspective. "He has succeeded in making dreams come true, his own private dreams, and the dreams that most men have from time to time ... He has lived not alone his dreams, but ours too." Only occasionally does Sir Francis himself grant us such a personal insight, before returning to his litany of sail-setting, navigating, and trying to eat and sleep on the rolling sea in a boat heeled over 20 or 30 degrees. All in all, a great man, a great feat, a disappointing book. If you are a yachtsman, or want to be, or if you are planning your own nautical sojourn, you may find this book more informative and entertaining than I did. Perhaps "British understatement" is what this volume is really about, after all.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sailing with a 'Smoking',
By Michael Littler (Highland, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Gipsy Moth Circles the World (The Sailor's Classics #1) (Hardcover)
Chichester's story-- of his nine-month single-handed circumnavigation of the world with just one port of call-- is laconically told. His bravery, focus and endurance was applauded by a crowd of thousands who celebrated his return to London. His worst moments were the realization that he had almost depleted his stock of his favorite drink, gin; whenever his solitary journey was interrupted by news-hungry reporters in boats or airplanes; whenever he had to prepare for and deliver a radio message to his newspaper sponsors. His best moments were consuming simple meals; playing music taped for him by his son; toasting his wife with champagne on their wedding anniversary while wearing his 'smoking'. Chichester is a man with a huge amount of will power and modesty. When he speaks of discomfort, danger, illness, injury, fear (and he experienced much of each during his journey), he brushes it aside as a necessary part of the challenge he accepted. He is a solitary man, sustained by his belief that he can achieve his extraordinary goal, and by his love for, and support from, his wife and son.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Sailor, Iffy Author,
By
This review is from: Gipsy Moth Circles the World (Paperback)
If you want to while away a summer afternoon listening to a guy complain about his boat for 2/3 of a trip around the world, go for it. Supposedly a classic of nautical libraries everywhere, but I was rarely engaged by the author for more than a sentence or two. While his feat was amazing and had never been accomplished before, the crowd that followed in the golden globe were far more insightful and sentimental writers in my opinion.
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