Non-stop Trip Round The World

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32234, 28 February 1970, Page 4

Non-stop Trip Round The World

4 World ol My Own. By Robin KnoxJohnston. Cassell. 240 pp. including appendices and index. When Robin Knox-Johnston sailed his yacht Suhaili into Falmouth on April 22 he completed a remarkable voyage: he w»s the first man to sail single-handed round the world non-stop and without any assistance from the shore or another ship It was also a remarkable feat of human endeavour, requiring great tenacity of purpose and skill, and courage of the highest order Francis Chichester and Alec Rose have made anular voyages in recent years but they W’ had Ipng stops for refreshment in Australia, and Rose again for repairs at Bluff. Apart from a brief involuntary grounding in Otago Harbour. Knox-John-ston was at sea for 313 days and die rules of the “Sunday Times” competition even precluded his receiving letters from his family. He is a professional r

sailor and this perhaps gave him some advantage over other little-ship navigators, although the bridge of a 10,000 ton freighter bears little resemblance to the cockpit of a 32ft yacht. Robin Knox-Johnston’s account of his epic voyage is modest but makes absorbing reading: it is one of those hard-to-put-down books. He has struck a nice balance, so that the sailing man will find all he wants to know about the Suhaili and her gear, courses steered and weather encountered: and the landsman will find a fascinating story of modern adventure which he can follow without being baffled by nautical language. The book is generously illustrated by photographs taken by the author. The reader soon finds himself enfolded in this story, sharing the hopes and fears, the frustrations and the final triumph of an. astonishing voyage, which will take a high if not the highest place in annals of single-handed sailing.,