‘I didn’t enter round-the-world race that I won’
IT WAS a feat that secured Sir Robin Knox-Johnston a place in maritime history.
But he has revealed he never entered the race that won him a place in the record books as the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world.
At the helm of his wooden vessel Suhali, which he helped hand-build in India, he completed a full circumnavigation of the world in 312 days.
It was on June 14, 1968 that Sir Robin set sail from Falmouth, Cornwall – and 10 months later he went on to win the Golden Globe race of 1968/69.
But Sir Robin revealed he never officially entered the competition. He said: “They announced I was in it ... they hadn’t consulted me.”
Five decades after his solo 30,000-mile sail around the world, his bond with the yacht, now moored in a Gosport marina in Hampshire, is evident.
“She is my most valuable possession; I can’t imagine life without her,” he said, revealing he will often to talk to Suhali who he said is “stubborn”.
“I am aware of most of her little foibles, but she can still surprise me on occasions,” he added.
Sitting below deck of the yacht, with the gentle creaking of ropes in the background, Sir Robin said he sees his relationship with Suhali ending only when he dies. “When I can’t climb out of those steps it is time to give up sailing, that is my test,” the 79-year-old added.
At 32 feet and five inches long, Suhali was packed full of the tinned food which would sustain him during the endeavour – so much so he admitted he had to climb over it.
During his record-breaking voyage, Sir Robin only had a wind-up chronometer, a barograph, navigated using a sextant, and caught rainwater to survive.
Written off as a serious contender for the record and race win, he said other people’s doubt never worried him, and said he had “total confidence” in getting Suhali around the world.
They announced I was in it ... they hadn’t consulted me. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who still won the round-the-world solo race.