Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
One man provided the link between the heroes of the great era
of circumnavigation and a younger generation of competitive racers.
And a single moment focussed attention dramatically on that link.
On 7 July 1967, at Greenwich, Queen Elizabeth II tapped a sword on
the shoulders of a lean, elderly man kneeling before her and com-
manded, 'Rise, Sir Francis'. It was the reprise of a scene played out in
the same place by another Queen Elizabeth and another Francis 386
years earlier. The twentieth century hero was Francis Chichester and
he had, at the age of sixty-six just completed the fastest solo circum-
navigation. By nature a loner, a rebel, a misfit, Chichester was a man
who always needed a challenge. There had to be something new to
attempt. 'If your try fails,' he wrote, 'what does that matter - all life is
failure in the end. The thing is to get sport out of trying.' That spirit
enabled him to become the second aviator to fly solo from England
to Australia in 1930 and to conquer lung cancer in 1960.
Chichester set out eastabout on 27 August 1966 in his
Gipsy
Moth IV
and reached Sydney after 107 gruelling days. He was ex-
hausted and the boat needed substantial repair. The southern ocean
had been a severe test of man and vessel and more than once the
voyage had come close to ending in disaster. As soon as he stepped
ashore the sailor faced a new hazard - the concerned advice of
friends and wellwishers. Press photos of his arrival, telegraphed
around the world, showed or seemed to show a weary, little (he had
lost three stone in weight) old man close to breaking point. Urgent
messages arrived begging him to give up. 'Experts', writing in the
newspapers and pontificating on television, echoed this advice and
millions of ordinary people shared their concern. All this emphas-
ised the fact that a new age had begun in the history of adventure.
Now, more than ever before, the bold pioneer was public property.
Even for a naturally solitary man like Chichester there was no avoid-
ing the communication age. He needed financial support and that
meant acquiring media sponsorship. Throughout the voyage he had
