The First and the Fastest Comparing Robin Knox-Johnston and Ellen MacArthur's Round-the-World Voyages

by Sharp, Nigel

• ISBN13: 9780750986946
• ISBN10: 0750986948
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-06-01
• Publisher: The History Press

Summary

This is the story of two single-handed non-stop round-the-world voyages: Robin Knox-Johnston’s in 1968/9 and Ellen MacArthur’s in 2004/5. Although there were similarities (both voyages started and finished in Falmouth, for instance, and neither sailor was in a conventional race) the story is mainly one of contrasts, mostly as a consequence of 36 years of technological developments. These gave MacArthur the opportunity for a considerably faster voyage, but that came at a price in that her trimaran B&Q provided more challenges than Knox-Johnston’s monohull Suhaili. MacArthur is no longer “the fastest” – her time has since been beaten by two Frenchmen – but she is still the fastest British sailor solo circumnavigator, while Knox-Johnston will always be “the first”.

Author Biography

Nigel Sharp spent 35 years in the boat building and repair industry, mostly in various project management-type positions. He had a change of course in 2010 when he became a freelance marine writer. Since then he has had many articles published, as well as three books.