Bernard Moitessier’s “The long way”

Chichester’s feat hints at the next step: by spring 1967, several sailors are contemplating a non-stop round-the-world voyage. Robin Knox-Johnston, 28 at the time and working as a lieutenant on British India Steam’s mixed cargo ships, is the first to formally propose this. Motivated by patriotism and fearing that the French might outdo British sailors, as they did in 1964 with Éric Tabarly, he sets his sights on this challenge… Without being aware of Robin’s plans, John Ridgway, a paratrooper officer who rowed across the Atlantic with another paratrooper in 1966, decides at the same time to attempt this adventure. His former partner in crime, Chay Blyth, who has no sailing experience at all, but has an indomitable spirit, soon thinks that such a challenge would suit him as well… Another Brit, former submarine commander Bill King, begins work in autumn 1967 to build a boat that has been designed specifically for this route by Angus Primrose. In France, Bernard Moitessier and Loïck Fougeron discuss the idea of this great voyage together in December. And in January 1968, Englishman Donald Crowhurst decides to join in and immediately begins searching for a boat.

The amusing part of the story is that none of these candidates for the first non-stop circumnavigation knows that six other sailors are pursuing the same goal. They all learn of it at the same time in March 1968 when the Sunday Times – having caught wind of their preparations – skillfully turns these individual projects into a “race” that everyone finds themselves part of, whether they like it or not… To ensure it is associated with the participants’ achievements whatever happens, the weekly newspaper draws up some incredibly accommodating rules, stating that there is no need to register and departures can occur between June 1 and October 31, 1968, from any port north of the 40th parallel. As a prize, the Sunday Times promises the Golden Globe to the first sailor to return to their starting point and a £5,000 prize (equivalent to €90,000 today) for the fastest circumnavigation.

The Sunday Times’ announcement disappoints some candidates, starting with Ridgway, Blyth and King, who dreamed of a personal adventure without external pressures… But it inspires another sailor: Nigel Tetley, a Royal Navy officer and experienced regatta racer living in Plymouth on his trimaran Victress, a 12 meter Piver design. As soon as he finishes reading the newspaper, he decides to look for partners to build a larger, more efficient multihull.

On June 1, the start of the departure window, John Ridgway casts off from Inishmore, in the Aran Islands. Chay Blyth sets sail a week later from the Hamble River, opposite the Isle of Wight. They are wise to get a head start, as the boats they manage to acquire – a Westerly 30 for John and a Kingfisher 30 for Chay – are particularly underperforming twin keelers that no sensible sailor would choose for the Roaring Forties… Robin Knox-Johnston departs on June 14 from Falmouth, also eager to make an early start as he has not been able to secure the funding he had hoped for and decides to take his chances with his own boat, Suhaili, a 9.72m heavy and slow traditional wooden sailboat. Bernard Moitessier leaves Plymouth on August 22 on board his beloved Joshua, at the same time as Loïck Fougeron on Captain Browne, a 9.53m steel cutter. Two days later, Bill King also sets off from Plymouth at the helm of Galway Blazer II, a brand-new 12.80m molded wood sailboat, characterized by its flush-deck lines and junk sails, as Bill was convinced by his friend Blondie Hasler that this would make it easier to handle.

On September 16, 1968, Nigel Tetley sets sail from Plymouth. He also failed to find the funds for a new trimaran and sets off with Victress, whose imposing superstructures seem ill-suited to high-latitude storms.

If we compare the seven boats already launched for this massive challenge with those that set off a few months earlier in the OSTAR, the solo transatlantic race, the differences are striking. The second race features the latest naval architecture designs, with beautiful, fast, robust units, including several over 15 meters, whereas for the first event, with the exception of Galway Blazer II, the boats are all outdated designs and modest in size or even completely unsuitable for such a demanding route. The offshore racing world clearly does not feel concerned by this first round-the-world attempt…

On October 31, just hours before the deadline, Donald Crowhurst leaves Teignmouth with his barely finished 12 meter trimaran Teignmouth Electron, a Piver design similar to Victress. In a similar rush is last-minute entrant Alex Carozzo, from Italy, who only took his decision in July and then began building in mid-August a 20m monohull that he designed himself. Hastily completed to leave Cowes before the deadline, his large ketch Gancia Americano is obviously not ready and has to abandon in Portugal after a week of sailing. 

Poor preparations and poor weather conditions quickly take their toll on this small fleet. John Ridgway gives up on July 21 in Brazil, realizing that his boat was falling apart. Chay Blyth reaches South Africa in mid-September (an achievement with his small twin keeler!), but wisely chooses not to go any further. Loïck Fougeron and Bill King capsize in November in the same hurricane, near the Cape of Good Hope, and their boats are too damaged to be able to continue. Crowhurst’s progress seems slow, and only Knox-Johnston, Moitessier and Tetley make steady progress along the three capes route: they pass south of New Zealand on November 18, December 28 and February 1 respectively. 

The following stages go down in history. Joshua rounds Cape Horn on February 5, nearly three weeks after Suhaili… but we will never know if it would have caught up before the English coast. In March 1969, when believed to be heading for the equator, Bernard Moitessier sends a message to a vessel near Cape Town to announce that he is abandoning the race, refusing to return to Europe and its consumer society, which he can no longer bear. This astonishing news takes everyone by surprise, starting with Bernard’s family waiting for him in France, and makes headlines around the world. 

The race is still underway between Knox-Johnston, Tetley… and Crowhurst, who, after months of silence, resumes radio contact, claiming to have rounded Cape Horn in early April and still vying for the fastest time prize. As for the Golden Globe, the winner is clear: Robin Knox-Johnston returns to Falmouth on April 22, 1969, after 312 days at sea, becoming the first man to sail solo non-stop around the world. He is probably the only person with the talent and tenacity needed to see this worn-out boat, taking on water everywhere, all the way through to the finish.

On the same day as Robin’s arrival, Nigel Tetley crosses his outbound track north of the equator, nearly becoming the first solo sailor to complete a round-the-world voyage on a multihull. Unfortunately, this does not happen! His plywood trimaran, limping along, breaks apart and sinks in a final storm just days from the finish. Nigel takes refuge in his life raft and is rescued the next day by a cargo ship. 

Donald Crowhurst never returns: as his family and all of Teignmouth prepare a triumphant welcome, his boat is found empty on July 10 southwest of the Azores. Worse, an examination of his logbooks reveals that he never rounded Cape Horn and perpetrated an astounding hoax. 

Realizing that he would never complete the circumnavigation, but unable to admit failure, he wandered the Atlantic for months, sending false positions, and in the end took his own life, unable to face this deception on his return to land…

Bernard Moitessier continues his long way east, crossing the Indian Ocean and part of the Pacific again to end his unique race on June 21, 1969 in Tahiti, after 303 days at sea and nearly 40,000 miles non-stop. The end of the maritime adventure and the start of the literary project: moored at the wharf in Papeete, Bernard begins writing the book he promised his publisher by the end of the year. It actually takes him two years to write, as he does not want to simply transcribe Joshua’s logbook. 

Obsessed with the feeling of having rushed his previous book – Cape Horn: The Logical Route – he tirelessly seeks the right way to recount this exceptional voyage, as he later wrote: “10 months of solitude on a boat seeking its way between sky and seas is almost inexpressible in its true fullness… It is made up of gestures too simple and emotions too intense to be transcribed in our poor everyday words”. He succeeds after many moments of doubt, regularly seeking the advice of his journalist friend Jean-Michel Barrault, ultimately producing an extraordinary account filled with the Eastern wisdom from his youth in Indochina, blending philosophical and technical reflections, questioning the meaning of the journey and the relationship with natural elements… It will become a timeless bestseller for French sailing and, for many, an invitation to take to the seas. 

All over France, improvised yards are set up where amateurs build steel or ferrocement hulls to set sail at the best cost. Several dozen units of the same type as Joshua are also built by the Meta yard. More than 50 years after the Golden Globe, the legacy of The Long Way remains intact: many young offshore racers still talk about it as essential reading in their journey.