crowhurst and Teignmouth
Donald Crowhurst built his 40ft (12m) trimaran, the Teignmouth Electron, specifically for the round-theworld yacht race, the Sunday Times Golden Globe. The boat was unproven for a voyage of such lengths, but Crowhurst had mortgaged his business and home in order to fund the race, hoping to gain publicity for his invention, a radio direction finder called the Navicator.
He set off from Teignmouth on 31 October 1968, the last day contenders were allowed to depart, in a boat that onlookers report was far from ready. In the following months, Crowhurst realised he couldn’t complete the circumnavigation, so decided to sail up and down the Atlantic and tag on to the end of the race as the other competitors returned. If he finished third, he hoped his logbook would not be scrutinised too carefully. He wouldn’t win the prize money of £5,000 (worth £60,000 in today’s money) but he’d still gain the publicity for his inventions. He spent many hours meticulously constructing false log entries, and gave ambiguous radio reports of his location while ‘hiding’ in the Atlantic.
Race leader Bernard Moitessier rounded the tip of South America in February but then dropped out of the race and continued to Tahiti, making Robin Knox-Johnston the first to complete the race in April. Crowhurst was supposedly in the running against Tetley for second place, and possibly still able to beat Knox-Johnston’s time, due to his later starting date. However, Tetley pushed his boat to breaking point and had to be rescued, leaving Crowhurst as the probable winner.
Crowhurst continued to give false position reports until June 1969, but just as preparations were being made for his victorious return to Teignmouth, his boat was found adrift in the Atlantic on 10 July, and Crowhurst was nowhere to be seen. News of his disappearance led to an air and sea search in the vicinity of the boat and its last estimated course. His logbooks were recovered, and on examination revealed his attempts at deception, his mental breakdown and probable suicide. These logbooks make up much of the content for the script of The Mercy.