Robin Knox Johnston – Golden Globe Race 40th Anniversary

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22. 4. 09 Sir Robin Knox Johnston celebrates the 40th Anniversary of his victory in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. He had been the first of 9 sailors to set out from the UK on June 14, 1968 aboard his 32ft ketch Suhaili, and returned to Falmouth UK after spending 312 days at sea, on the April 22, 1969. To this day Knox-Johnston holds the accolade as the only British sailor to win a single-handed round the world yacht race.
Seven competitors gave up enroute, one, Frenchman Bernard Motissier who looked as if he would catch up with Knox-Johnston, decided instead to continue sailing round the Southern latitudes ‘to save my soul’ and Donald Crowhurst committed suicide after attempting to hoax the world by filing false position reports around the world. In fact, he never left the Atlantic. Knox-Johnston donated his £5,000 prize to Crowhurst’s widow.
Unlike Francis Chichester and Alec Rose, who both recieved knighthoods after their one-stop circumnavigations, Knox-Johnston was awarded only the CBE, after criticising the state of the Country under the Wilson Labour Government on his return.  He was eventually knighted in 1995 after successfully setting the fastest circumnavigation with the late Peter Blake and their crew on the catamaran Enza New Zealand.
In 2006/7 Knox-Johnston successfully completed his second solo circumnavigation to finish 4th in the Velux 5 Oceans round the world race at the age of 68.
Uniquely Sir Robin has been voted British Yachtsman of the Year 3 times and was also ISAF Sailor of the Year 1994 and in 2007  when he became one of the first 6 inductees into the ISAF Hall of Fame.
PHOTO CREDIT: Graeme Sweeney/PPL
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