RKJ (in red) and Suhaili are the stuff of sailing folklore. It is therefore a source of some surprise, to Stargazer's skipper (stepping out to source a breakfast baguette) that they are Cherbourg berth neighbours.
The pair won the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Out of nine starters (in the solo round the world event - the first of its kind) Robin Knox-Johnston and his trusty canoe sterned ketch were the sole finishers.
For which feat RKJ was knighted. Fifty years later, his achievement inspired Australian adventurer Don McIntyre to create a retro solo round the world race. Which he named the GGR, in honour of the original event. It is sailed, every four years, in long keeled craft, navigated by sextant. Post 1968 electronic aids, including autopilots, are outlawed.
A favourite, with GGR skippers, is the Rustler 36. A design which Jean Luc Van Den Heede sailed to victory in the inaugural 2018 race. The fleet, for this year's start, was forming up whilst Stargazer was in Les Sables d'Olonne (see Ad Lib 93).
RKJ had set off from Dartmouth, over the Bank Holiday weekend, to give the GGR boats an inspirational send off. From Suhaili's hallowed decks. But the westerly gales, which pinned Stargazer in St Peter Port, prevented progress. Sir Robin demonstrates his accumulated seafaring wisdom, by modifying Suhaili's passage plan in light of conditions.
Picture Credits
RKJ Sunday Times Golden Globe Race pictures; courtesy of Bill Rowntree / PPL
Jean Luc Van Den Heede winning the 2018 McIntyre GGR; courtesy of Christophe Favreu / GGR
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