CHICHESTER NEAR HOME

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 1

CHICHESTER NEAR HOME

(N.Z.P.A -Reuter —Copyright)

PLYMOUTH, May 28.

Sir Francis Chichester had his first sight of the English coast 119 days after leaving Sydney just before 8 a.m. today when he was 15 miles south-west of the Lizard, Cornwall.

People on the cliffs watched the white sails of the 53ft ketch Gipsy Moth IV as she moved sfowly along the horizon on the last lap of the epic globe-circling voyage.

By 9 a.m. she was about 10 miles off the coast on a south-east bearing, making her way to Plymouth, just over 50 miles away.

It was learned at Plymouth that official arrangements were being made to welcome Sir Francis Chichester at 7 p.m. ?'

An official said Gipsy Moth IV would not be towed in from the breakwater as oriplanned. Sir Francis Chichester would come through under the power of his own motor. The plans for a stupendous reception which his arrival will spark Jtre being held in suspense like a firework awaiting the match. Miles of beacons along the Cornish coast will signal his approach. A cannon’s boom will mark the moment when the voyage ends, as Gipsy Moth’s prow passes the line to break water on Plymouth Sound. At least a thousand small craft are expected to be out on the water to welcome him —the largest number seen together there since warships

assembled for the Normandy Invasion.

Firefloats will send up Jets of white spray, ships’ sirens will blare a raucous welcome as Lady Chichester joins her husband on Gipsy Moth and the ketch is taken in tow for the last few hundred yards by the Queen’s Harbour Master's barge. • Strong Breeze

In Plymouth, thousands of people were braving the cold, strong southerly wind on the Hoe, many hours before he could possibly get there. The waters of the Sound were lively in the strong breeze, but thick mist covered the headlands on either side. Captain Terence Shaw, secretary of the Royal Western Yacht Club, where Sir Francis Chichester will step ashore, said: “It’s the greatest event here for over 100 years.” But in Plymouth’s taverns —..-here many are preparing to hand out free celebration champagne—the locals are comparing the arrival most to Sir Winston Churchill’s World War II visit to this bombscarred dockyard city. One thing they all agree on—the hero's welcome will do much to boost Plymouth’s prestige and finances. The town is cashing in on the publicity with such items as Gipsy Moths in bottles, Chichester pennants, and Chichester scallop shells. Mr Geoffrey Goodwin, who formed a business partnership with Sir Francis Chichester when he arrived in New Zealand in 1918, is in Plymouth to watch the arrival of his friend and colleague. He is in England on a three weeks’ holiday, and hopes to see Sir Francis Chichester later. Their business partnership, which now deals in land, is still in existence in New Zealand. (Chichester’s last message, Page 13.)