- Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir William Robert Pat "Robin" Knox-Johnston, CBE, RD and bar (born
17 March 1939 ) was the first man to perform a single-handed non-stopcircumnavigation of theglobe and was the second winner of theJules Verne Trophy (together with Sir Peter Blake).Life
Early life
He was born in
Putney inLondon and grew up on The Wirral. From 1957 to 1965 he served in the Merchant Navy and theRoyal Navy . In 1965 he sailed his Colin-Archer-design sloop "Suhaili " from Bombay toEngland . Due to a lack of money he had to interrupt his voyage for work inSouth Africa and was only able to complete it in 1967. [cite book| author=Robin Knox-Johnston| title=A World of My Own| publisher=Cassell & Co Ltd| year=1969 | isbn=0-304-93473-9| oclc=76958]Circumnavigation of the Earth
On
14 June 1968 theSunday Times Golden Globe Race started at Falmouth. Robin Knox-Johnston roundedCape Horn on17 January 1969 , 20 days before his closest competitorBernard Moitessier who was the favourite to do the fastest circumnavigation, but Moitessier abandoned the race. Thus, Knox-Johnston became the first man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and single-handed on22 April 1969 , the day he returned to Falmouth. He donated his prize money to the family ofDonald Crowhurst , who had disappeared in unexplained circumstances while taking part in the race.Further Exploits
In 1970 (with Leslie Williams) and in 1974 (with Gerry Boxall) Robin Knox-Johnston won the two-handed Round Britain Race. Robin Knox-Johnston, Les Williams and their crew, which Peter Blake was also part of, took line honours of the 1971 Cape Town to Rio Race. Les Williams and Robin Knox-Johnston jointly skippered (Peter Blake crewmember again) a maxi yacht in the 1977
Whitbread Round the World Race . They took the line honours in the second and fourth leg, the ones which Robin Knox-Johnston skippered.Fact|date=February 2007Robin Knox-Johnston and Peter Blake (who both acted as co-skippers) won the
Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation in 1994. Their time was 74 days 22 hours 18 minutes and 22 seconds. It was their second attempt to win this prize after their first one in 1992 had to be aborted when theircatamaran "Enza" hit an object which tore a hole in the starboard hull.From 1992 to 2001 he was President of the
Sail Training Association . During his tenure the money was collected to replace the STA’s vessels "Sir Winston Churchill" and "Malcolm Miller" by the new, largerbrig s "Prince William" and "Stavros S. Niarchos". He was trustee of theNational Maritime Museum atGreenwich from 1992 to 2002 and still is trustee of the National Maritime Museum –Cornwall at Falmouth, where "Suhaili" is berthed today. The yacht has been refitted and took part in the Round the Island Race in June 2005.He completed his second solo circumnavigation of the world in the yacht "SAGA Insurance "on 4 May 2007, finishing in 4th place in the Velux 5 Oceans race. [cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6623703.stm|title = Sailing legend crosses the line|publisher = BBC|date =
2007-05-04 |accessdate = 2007-08-24] At 68 he was the oldest competitor in the race. [cite news|author = John Elliott|url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2168656.html|title = Old man of sea Knox-Johnston takes on world|work = The Sunday Times|date =2006-05-07 |accessdate = 2006-07-02]He was knighted in 1995. [cite web|author = Sir Robin Knox-Johnston|url = http://www.robinknox-johnston.co.uk/da/20074|title = Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's CV|accessdate = 2007-08-24]
In 1996 Robin established the first
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and has since worked with the Clipper Ventures company as Chairman to progress the race to higher levels every year. [cite web|author = Sir Robin Knox-Johnston|url = http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/the_hatch/sir_robins_blog/|title = Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's Blog|accessdate = 2007-08-24]References
External links
* [http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/news?&void=235162/ Opening the Southampton Boat Show 2008]
* [http://www.robinknox-johnston.co.uk/ Robin Knox-Johnston homepage]
* [http://www.asrecommended.co.uk/lifestyle/tips/?FaqID=63 "Robin Knox-Johnston Interview"]
* [http://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/sailaway/sail-away.asp Robin Knox Johnston Online Game]
* [http://www.mcallen.lib.tx.us/books/circumna/ci_30.htm Chapter 30 of "The Circumnavigators" by Don Holm"]
* [http://www.amazon.com/s/url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Robin+Knox-Johnston Books by Robin Knox-Johnston]
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