EPISODE · Sep 25, 2023 · 18 MIN
#147 | The Romantic Challenge | Sir Francis Chichester | Part 1
from The Mariner’s Library · host Chris Stanmore-Major
If you are a solo sailor, a racer, a cruiser or even a dinghy sailor.... you should know who Sir Francis Chichester is. Basically, he is the guy that proved to the world in the 60's that you could sail solo around the world without stops. He did stop, just once and only because he wanted to, but very soon afterwards the Sunday Times in the UK created the Golden Globe; the first ever Solo, Non-stop Around the World yacht race in 1968 and the rest is history. BUT, this was not the first of Francis Chichester's adventures, nor his last and in this book, The Romantic Challenge, we discover Francis just a few years on from his successful circumnavigation, looking for something else in sailing that will whet his whistle in the same way the circumnav did. What he choose to do was to challenge the concept of sailing 200Nm per a day, a big feat for even modern computer-designed cruiser. At the time in the early 70's it was a far away goal to most sailors except those who remembered the Clipper ships . As was his style, he chose to add greatly to the difficulty of the undertaking, by laying forth a goal of completing this high daily mileage on not one or two days, but for five! He drew a 4000Nm line across the Atlantic and challenged himself to complete 1000Nm in five consecutive days. Meaning every single one of them would be required to be over 200NM. It was a quantum leap in the psychology of performance around sailing and we are lucky that Sir Francis's style of writing allows the reader to get under the skin of the endeavor and really see inside the mind of a master mariner at work as he wrestles with the task. If you appreciate this content, please consider supporting the podcast with a donation of $5 per month. In return you will get access to more exclusive patron-only book readings at: www.patreon.com/themariner
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What this episode covers
As I am a sailor, as I live in Nova Scotia, and as I am an Eric Hiscock fanboy, any book that can combine the first two and receive a glowing foreword from the third, has got to be OK by me. As is always the way when discovering the most amazing sailing book you have ever read, I am not sure where it came from- but it’s either a gem from the original Mariner’s Library as it was donated to me; OR is one of the many sailing books I am now vacuuming up from all the marina and club house launderettes I visit, as I succumb to the feeling of responsibility to bolster the variety and depth of the Mariner’s Library while it’s in my charge! Either way, it appeared on my desk and one look at the words written by Eric Hiscock and I was hooked! As I read I discovered a wonderful narrator with a keen eye for not only the detail of life at sea but an ability to express what it FEELS like to be at sea. The author’s description of waiting out gales at sea-anchor in their tiny boat left me with clammy hands, as a hundred similar personal experiences were conjured to mind. The fact that I had not ever heard of this boat, the authors or their incredible voyage further underlines how important it is to breathe new life into these archives of incredible sailing experiences and learning by converting these lost tomes into publicly accessible podcasts. If you agree please consider supporting the podcast with a donation of $5 per month. In return you will get access to more exclusive patron-only book readings. www.patreon.com/themariner
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#147 | The Romantic Challenge | Sir Francis Chichester | Part 1
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