| The last stretch |
Approaching the finish line of the Golden Globe,
Robin Knox-Johnson was in the lead, but handicapped by damage done to his already slow,
and now jury-rigged, boat.
Moitessier was in superb condition, closing Knox-Johnson's lead by the day.
Meanwhile, the dark horse Crowhurst was out there somewhere on his ultramodern trimaran,
chock full of custom-built electronic gear.
With just one short leg remaining, the race was still too close to call.
But something strange happened on the way to the finish line. Actually, two strange things happened. |
|---|---|
| The Frenchman |
Moitessier was something of a mystic.
He reveled in the interaction between man, boat, wind, and water.
He carried no electronics aboard, immersed himself in the experience of sailing,
and enjoyed every minute of it.
There was one point where Moitessier was headed into a region know to contain dangerous reefs.
He set a course to avoid it, but while he was asleep, the wind changed, heading him
directly toward that area.
When Moitessier woke up, his boat was surrounded by dolphins. Not only that, the dolphins were behaving oddly. Some of them were following the boat closely, jumping into the air and gyrating erratically. Others did something even weirder. A group of the dolphins would swim in tight formation past the boat's starboard beam, then, once ahead of the boat, they would simultaneously turn sharply to the right. Finally, they would let the boat get ahead so they could repeat the process. The dolphins knew about the nearby reefs as well as any human cartographer. They saw a "creature" that didn't appear to turn very often and was headed into that region. Moitessier realized that the dolphins were warning him to change course. Moitessier heeded the dolphins' advice, later negotiated the deadly Cape Horn, and soon enough found himself off the east coast of South America headed up the Atlantic in pursuit of Knox-Johnson. That's when he decided he didn't feel like racing anymore. Sailing was too fun. He had plenty of food. He didn't care about all the hoopla associated with the race. So he quit. He changed course to continue around the globe again! Moitessier continued into the Indian Ocean for a second time, encountered severe weather, suffered several near capsizes, and finally landed in Tahiti. Apparently, he enjoyed that last leg of his journey most of all. |
| The strange last voyage | Donald Crowhurst's finish was very different. |
| The winner |
Not only did Knox-Johnson have a slow boat, he also had terrible luck with the weather.
The infamous Cape Horn, where so many experienced seaman have died through the centuries,
at least has primarily westerly wind, making the west-to-east crossing much easier than going
the opposite direction.
Not for Knox-Johnson. He had to fight his way into a stiff headwind in a boat not well suited for that purpose. The boom parted from the mast, the rudder parted from its support, and two seams started opening up in the hull. By the time Knox-Johnson made it back to the Atlantic, his boat was barely holding together, thanks to the resourceful repairs Knox-Johnson made with the limited equipment he had aboard. People have argued for years ever since who was most likely to win that race. Offsetting Moitessier's speed advantage with Knox-Johnson's initial lead, it was a genuinely exciting race that could have been a photo finish. Robin Knox-Johnson was the only contestant to complete the race. He won both the Golden Globe and the prize money by persevering, sailing conservatively with good judgement and experience. Robin Knox-Johnson has had a tremendously successful career as one of sailing's outstanding leaders. As of late 2006, he has recently set out on another solo circumnavigation. |