The first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world, completing this incredible feat between June 1968 and April 1969. His pioneering voyage highlights a profound courage and determination in the face of immense challenges. His journeys offer reflections on human resilience and the boundaries of possibility.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston shares the lessons he has learned on seamanship in the 50 years since he set off on the first non-stop solo circumnavigation. He also reminisces on memorable boats, races and places he has experienced in his last 50 years of seafaring. The book is introduced by an original piece reflecting on the last 50 years.
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston burst to fame when he became the first man ever to complete a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world. Now, 50 years on from that famous voyage, he reveals the true, extraordinary story of his life. After leaving school, he immediately joined the Royal Naval Reserve before serving in the merchant navy and travelling the world. During that time, he spied for the British government in the Gulf, worked in the South African dockyards, and built his boat Suhaili in Bombay, before sailing home to England. In June 1968, he set sail in Suhaili in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, and Running Free vividly brings to life that remarkable voyage, where he was the only person to finish the race, completing his journey on 22 April 1969 and thus entering the record books. Once back home, he set up a hugely successful business and continued his naval adventures, completing a second solo circumnavigation of the globe in 2007 - at 68, he became the oldest to complete this feat. Knox-Johnston's insatiable appetite for life and adventure shines through these pages, making this book a must for all sailing enthusiasts, readers of books by Ranulph Fiennes and Chris Bonington, or for anyone who has felt that the time for putting up your feet can always be put back to another day.
A logbook in which to keep all the specific notes that need constant referral during a long voyage - a sailing record of the boat, ports visited, interesting sights, and people invited aboard.
An account of the Greenland expedition undertaken by Bonnington and Knox-Johnston. Travelling in the famous wooden yacht "Suhaili", they pooled their mountaineering and sailing skills to navigate to, and then climb, the peaks of the uninhabited, ice-bound East Greenland coast.
On Friday 14 June 1968 Suhaili, a tiny ketch, slipped almost unnoticed out of Falmouth harbour, steered by the solitary figure at her helm, Robin Knox-Johnston. This is Robin's uninhibited account of one of the greatest sea adventures of our time.