Donald Crowhurst
Encyclopedia
Donald Crowhurst was a British
businessman and amateur sailor
who died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race
, a single-handed
, round-the-world
yacht race
. Crowhurst had entered the race in hopes of winning a cash prize from The Sunday Times
to aid his failing business. Instead, he encountered difficulty early in the voyage, and secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually circling the world. Evidence found after his disappearance indicates that this attempt ended in insanity
and suicide
.
.
Crowhurst's father died in 1948. Due to family financial problems, he was forced to leave school early and started a five-year apprenticeship at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
at Farnborough Airfield
. He later received a Royal Air Force
commission as a pilot, but was asked to leave the Royal Air Force
for reasons which remain unclear. He later joined the British Army
. After leaving the Army due to a disciplinary incident, he eventually moved to Bridgwater
and started a business called Electron Utilisation Ltd. He was active in his local community as a member of the Liberal Party
and in 1967 was elected to represent the Central Ward of Bridgwater
Town Council.
The Golden Globe Race was inspired by Francis Chichester
's successful single-handed
round-the-world voyage, stopping in Sydney. The considerable publicity his achievement garnered led a number of sailors to plan the next logical step — a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world sail.
The Sunday Times
had sponsored Chichester, with highly profitable results, and was interested in being involved with the first non-stop circumnavigation; but they had the problem of not knowing which sailor to sponsor. They solved this by declaring the Golden Globe Race, a single-handed round-the-world race, open to all comers, with automatic entry. This was in contrast to other races of the time, for which entrants were required to demonstrate their single-handed sailing ability prior to entry. Entrants were required to start between June 1 and October 31, 1968, in order to pass through the Southern Ocean
in summer. The prizes offered were the Golden Globe trophy for the first single-handed circumnavigation, and a £5,000 cash prize for the fastest. This was a considerable sum then, equivalent to £58,100 in 2005.
The other contestants were Robin Knox-Johnston
, Nigel Tetley
, Bernard Moitessier
, Chay Blyth
, John Ridgway, William King, Alex Carozzo and Loïck Fougeron. "Tahiti" Bill Howell, a noted multihull
sailor and competitor in the 1964 and 1968 OSTAR races, originally signed up as an entrant but did not actually race.
Crowhurst hired Rodney Hallworth
, a crime reporter for the Daily Mail
and then Daily Express
, as his public relations
officer.
designed by Californian Arthur Piver
. At the time, this was an unproven type of sailing boat for a voyage of such length. Trimarans have the potential to sail much more quickly than monohull
ed sailboat
s, but early designs in particular could be very slow if overloaded, and had considerable difficulty sailing close to the wind. Trimarans are popular with many sailors for their stability; however, if capsized (for example by a rogue wave
), they are virtually impossible to right, in contrast to monohulls, and this would typically be a fatal disaster for the boat's crew.
To improve the safety of the boat, Crowhurst had planned to add an inflatable buoyancy bag on the top of the mast to prevent capsizing; the bag would be activated by water sensors on the hull designed to detect an impending capsize. This innovation would hold the boat horizontal, and a clever arrangement of pumps would allow him to flood the uppermost outer hull, which would (in conjunction with wave action) pull the boat upright. His scheme was to prove these devices by sailing round the world with them, then go into business manufacturing the system.
However, Crowhurst had a very short time in which to build and equip his boat while securing financing and sponsors for the race. In the end, all of his safety devices were left uncompleted; he planned to complete them while underway. Also, many of his spares and supplies were left behind in the confusion of the final preparations. On top of it all, Crowhurst had never sailed on a trimaran before taking delivery of his boat several weeks before the beginning of the race.
On Sunday October 13th experienced sailor Lieutenant Commander Peter Eden volunteered to accompany Crowhurst on his last leg from Cowes to Teignmouth. Crowhurst had fallen into the water several times while in Cowes and as He and Cmdr Eden climbed aboard Teingmouth Electron he once again ended up in the water after slipping on the outboard bracket on the stern of the rubber dinghy. Cmdr Eden's description of his two days with Crowhurst provide the most expert independent assessment we have for both boat and sailor before the start of the race. He recalls that the trimaran sailed immensely swiftly, but could not get no closer to the wind than 60 degrees. The speed often reached 12 knots, but the vibrations encountered caused the screws on the Haslar Self Steering gear to come loose. Cmdr Eden said "We had to keep leaning over the counter to do up the screws. it was a tricky and time consuming business . I told Crowhurst he should get the fixings welded if he wanted it to survive a longer trip!" Eden also commented that the Haslar worked superbly and the boat was "Certainly nippy"
Cmdr Eden reported that Crowhurst's sailing techniques were good, "But I felt his navigation was a mite slapdash. I prefer, even in the channel, to know exactly where I am. He didn't take too much bother with it, merely jotting down figures on few sheets of paper from time to time".
After struggling against westerlies and having to tack out into the Channel twice they arrived at 2.30pm on October 15th, where an enthusiastic BBC film crew started filming Eden in the belief he was Crowhurst. There were 16 days to get ready before the 31st race deadline.
(Source: "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" by Nicolas Tomalin and Ron Hall. Pages 55-56)
, Devon
, on the last day permitted by the rules: 31 October 1968. He encountered immediate problems with his boat, his equipment; and, his lack of over ocean sailing skills and experience. In the first few weeks he was making less than half of his planned speed. As he did not have the skill to sail the complex tri-hulled boat at anything near its optimum speed; all the while navigating a good course to reach his circumnavigation waypoints. According to his logs, he gave himself only 50/50 odds of surviving the trip, assuming that he was able to complete some of the safety equipment before reaching the dangerous Southern Ocean. Crowhurst was thus faced with the choice of either quitting the race and facing financial ruin and humiliation, or continuing to an almost certain death in his unseaworthy, unsafe boat. Over the course of November and December 1968, the hopelessness of his situation pushed him into an elaborate deception. He shut down his radio with a plan to loiter in the South Atlantic for several months (while the other boats sailed the Southern Ocean); falsify his navigation logs; then slip back in for the return leg to England. As last place finisher, he assumed his false logs would not receive the scrutiny of the winner's.
Since leaving, Crowhurst had been deliberately ambiguous in his radio reports of his location. Starting on 6 December 1968, he continued reporting vague but false positions and possibly fabricating a log book; rather than continuing to the Southern Ocean
, he sailed erratically in the southern Atlantic Ocean
, and stopped once in South America (in violation of the rules) to make repairs to his boat. A great deal of the voyage was spent in radio silence, while his supposed position was inferred by extrapolation based on his earlier reports. By early December, based on his false reports, he was being cheered worldwide as the likely winner of the race, though Francis Chichester publicly expressed doubts about the plausibility of Crowhurst's progress.
After rounding the tip of South America in early February, Moitessier had made a dramatic decision in March to drop out of the race and recircle the globe. On 22 April 1969, Robin Knox-Johnston was the first to complete the race, leaving Crowhurst supposedly in the running against Tetley for second to finish, and possibly still able to beat Knox-Johnston's time (due to his later starting date). In reality, Tetley was far in the lead, having long ago passed within 150 nautical miles (278 km) of Crowhurst's hiding place; but believing himself to be running neck-and neck with Crowhurst, Tetley pushed his failing boat (also a 40 feet (12 m) Piver trimaran) to the breaking point, and had to abandon ship on 30 May. The pressure on Crowhurst had therefore increased, since he now looked certain to win the "elapsed time" race. If he appeared to have completed the fastest circumnavigation, his log books would be closely examined by experienced sailors, including Chichester, and the deception in all probability would be exposed. It is also likely that he felt guilty about wrecking Tetley's genuine circumnavigation so near its completion. He had by this time begun to make his way back as if he had rounded Cape Horn
.
Crowhurst ended radio transmissions on 29 June. The last log book entry is dated 1 July. Teignmouth Electron was found adrift, unoccupied, on 10 July.
The last several weeks of his log entries, once he was facing the real possibility of winning the prize, showed increasing irrationality. In the end, his writings during the voyage - poems, quotations, real and false log entries, and random thoughts - amounted to more than 25,000 words. The log books include an attempt to construct a philosophical reinterpretation of the human condition that would provide an escape from his impossible situation. The number 243
shows up several times in these writings: he originally planned to finish the trip in 243 days, recorded a false distance of 243 nautical miles (450 km) in one day's sailing (which if valid would have been a record day's run for the race), and may have ended his life on the 243rd day (1 July) of his voyage.
His last log entry was on 1 July 1969; it is assumed that he then jumped overboard and drowned. The state of the boat gave no indication that it had been overrun by a rogue wave, or that any accident had occurred which might have caused Crowhurst to fall overboard. He may have taken with him a single deceptive log book and the ship's clock. Three log books (two navigational logs and a radio log) and a large mass of other papers were left on his boat; these communicated his philosophical ideas and revealed his actual navigational course during the voyage.
Although his biographers, Tomalin and Hall, discounted the possibility that some sort of food poisoning contributed to his mental deterioration, they acknowledged that there is insufficient evidence to rule it out.
Robin Knox-Johnston
donated his winnings for fastest circumnavigation (£5,000) to Donald Crowhurst's widow and children. Nigel Tetley
was awarded a consolation prize and built a new trimaran.
Teignmouth Electron was later taken to Jamaica
and was sold multiple times, most recently in 2007, to American artist Michael Jones McKean
. The boat still lies decaying on the southwest shore of Cayman Brac
.
The 1986 Soviet film Race of the Century ("Гонка века") gave a dramatic presentation of the events of the Golden Globe Race and the fate of Donald Crowhurst. The movie focused on the idea of competition in a capitalist society as a soul-consuming "rat race", where all community members including children are under constant pressure, and failure and poverty are not tolerated. It portrayed Crowhurst as a deeply honest man being forced into a dangerous unwinnable enterprise by his disastrous financial situation and the greed of his entrepreneur Best. The screenplay took some liberties with the facts, such as downplaying Crowhurst's role in his own destruction, and reporting Tetley as having been killed in a wreckage instead of committing suicide many years later (probably to increase the tension). Crowhurst's suicide is ascribed chiefly to the inability of a moral person to survive in an immoral society. The film's highlights include a realistic depiction of sailing, an endearing portrayal of the Crowhurst family, and a dramatic enactment of Donald's descent into insanity leading to fatalism.
This film has passed unnoticed, and today it is known mainly because of Natalia Guseva (Наталья Гусева) had played the role of Crowhurst's daughter Rachel.
British artist Tacita Dean
created two video works entitled Disappearance at Sea, partly inspired by the story of Donald Crowhurst. She has also written about Teignmouth Electron, journeying to Cayman Brac to visit the wreck of the boat.
Film Four commissioned a documentary based on the affair in 2006, called Deep Water
. The film reconstructs Crowhurst's voyage from his own audio tapes and cine film, interwoven with archive footage and interviews. It was given a limited cinema release in the UK. and is available on DVD.
In 1998 the New York-based theatre group The Builders' Association based the first half of their production "Jet Lag" on Crowhurst's story, although they changed the character's name to Richard Dearborn. (See G. Giesekam, Staging The Screen, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 151-6)
, herself a renowned sailor, published the novel Seule la mer s'en souviendra (roughly translates as "Only the sea will remember") based on Crowhurst's voyage.
The 1993 book "Outerbridge Reach" by Robert Stone (Dog Soldiers, Children of Light) is a novel inspired by the reporting on Crowhurst. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The title character of Jonathan Coe
's 2010 novel The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim
is driven by his obsession with Crowhurst's story.
released a song called "Donald Crowhurst" on the album "Ghost".
British jazz musician Django Bates
included a track called "The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" on his 1997 album "Like Life".
The rock band Stiltskin
performed a song called "Horse" on their album The Mind's Eye, which examined the affair from Crowhurst's perspective.
Scottish band Captain and the Kings released a single in early 2011 entitled "It Is The Mercy", based on Crowhurst's exploits.
British band iLiKETRAiNS
wrote a song called "The Deception", which appears on their album Elegies to Lessons Learnt
, based upon Donald Crowhurst's story.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
businessman and amateur sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
who died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race
Sunday Times Golden Globe Race
The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race, held in 1968–1969, and was the first round-the-world yacht race...
, a single-handed
Single-handed sailing
The sport of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember . The term is usually used with reference to ocean and long-distance sailing, and particularly competitive sailing....
, round-the-world
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
yacht race
Yacht racing
Yacht racing is the sport of competitive yachting.While sailing groups organize the most active and popular competitive yachting, other boating events are also held world-wide: speed motorboat racing; competitive canoeing, kayaking, and rowing; model yachting; and navigational contests Yacht racing...
. Crowhurst had entered the race in hopes of winning a cash prize from The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
to aid his failing business. Instead, he encountered difficulty early in the voyage, and secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually circling the world. Evidence found after his disappearance indicates that this attempt ended in insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
.
Early life
Crowhurst was born in 1932 in Ghaziabad, British India. His mother was a school teacher and his father worked on the Indian railways. After India gained its independence, his family moved back to England. The family's retirement savings were invested in an Indian sporting goods factory, which later burned down during rioting after the Partition of IndiaPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
.
Crowhurst's father died in 1948. Due to family financial problems, he was forced to leave school early and started a five-year apprenticeship at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
at Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
. He later received a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
commission as a pilot, but was asked to leave the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
for reasons which remain unclear. He later joined the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. After leaving the Army due to a disciplinary incident, he eventually moved to Bridgwater
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
and started a business called Electron Utilisation Ltd. He was active in his local community as a member of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
and in 1967 was elected to represent the Central Ward of Bridgwater
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
Town Council.
Business ventures
Crowhurst, a weekend sailor, designed and built a radio direction finder called the Navicator. This device allowed the user to take bearings on marine and aviation radio beacons with a handheld device. While he did have some success selling his navigational equipment, his business began to fail. In an effort to gain publicity, he started trying to gain sponsors to enter the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. His main sponsor was English entrepreneur Stanley Best, who had invested heavily in Crowhurst's failing business. Once committed to the race, Crowhurst mortgaged both his business and home against Best's continued financial support, placing himself in a grave financial situation.The Golden Globe
Francis Chichester
Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE , aviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall.-Early life:Chichester was born in Barnstaple,...
's successful single-handed
Single-handed sailing
The sport of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember . The term is usually used with reference to ocean and long-distance sailing, and particularly competitive sailing....
round-the-world voyage, stopping in Sydney. The considerable publicity his achievement garnered led a number of sailors to plan the next logical step — a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world sail.
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
had sponsored Chichester, with highly profitable results, and was interested in being involved with the first non-stop circumnavigation; but they had the problem of not knowing which sailor to sponsor. They solved this by declaring the Golden Globe Race, a single-handed round-the-world race, open to all comers, with automatic entry. This was in contrast to other races of the time, for which entrants were required to demonstrate their single-handed sailing ability prior to entry. Entrants were required to start between June 1 and October 31, 1968, in order to pass through the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
in summer. The prizes offered were the Golden Globe trophy for the first single-handed circumnavigation, and a £5,000 cash prize for the fastest. This was a considerable sum then, equivalent to £58,100 in 2005.
The other contestants were Robin Knox-Johnston
Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir William Robert Patrick "Robin" Knox-Johnston, CBE, RD and bar is an English sailor. He was the first man to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe and was the second winner of the Jules Verne Trophy . For this he was awarded with Blake the ISAF Yachtsman of the Year award...
, Nigel Tetley
Nigel Tetley
Nigel Tetley was the first person to circumnavigate the world solo in a trimaran.- The race :A native of South Africa, and a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy, he entered the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, which was the first non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race...
, Bernard Moitessier
Bernard Moitessier
Bernard Moitessier was a renowned French yachtsman and author of books about his voyages and sailing....
, Chay Blyth
Chay Blyth
Sir Charles Blyth, CBE, BEM , known as Chay Blyth, is a Scottish yachtsman and rower. He was the first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world , on a 59-foot boat called British Steel.- Early life:...
, John Ridgway, William King, Alex Carozzo and Loïck Fougeron. "Tahiti" Bill Howell, a noted multihull
Multihull
A multihull is a ship, vessel, craft or boat with more than one hull.-Description:Multihulls include: Proas, which have two differently shaped or sized hulls with lateral symmetry; catamarans, which have two hulls with longitudinal symmetry; and trimarans, which have a main hull in the center and...
sailor and competitor in the 1964 and 1968 OSTAR races, originally signed up as an entrant but did not actually race.
Crowhurst hired Rodney Hallworth
Rodney Hallworth
-Journalism:Hallworth worked as a crime reporter for the Daily Mail. He reported on many cases but most famously on that of suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams in 1956...
, a crime reporter for the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
and then Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
, as his public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
officer.
Crowhurst's boat and preparations
The boat Crowhurst built for the trip, Teignmouth Electron, was a 40 feet (12 m) trimaranTrimaran
A trimaran is a multihulled boat consisting of a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls , attached to the main hull with lateral struts...
designed by Californian Arthur Piver
Arthur Piver
Arthur Piver was a World War II pilot, an amateur sailor, author, printshop owner and legendary boatbuilder who lived in Mill Valley on San Francisco Bay and became "the father of the modern multihull...
. At the time, this was an unproven type of sailing boat for a voyage of such length. Trimarans have the potential to sail much more quickly than monohull
Monohull
rightA monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.-Fundamental concept:...
ed sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
s, but early designs in particular could be very slow if overloaded, and had considerable difficulty sailing close to the wind. Trimarans are popular with many sailors for their stability; however, if capsized (for example by a rogue wave
Freak wave
Rogue waves are relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves that occur far out in sea, and are a threat even to large ships and ocean liners...
), they are virtually impossible to right, in contrast to monohulls, and this would typically be a fatal disaster for the boat's crew.
To improve the safety of the boat, Crowhurst had planned to add an inflatable buoyancy bag on the top of the mast to prevent capsizing; the bag would be activated by water sensors on the hull designed to detect an impending capsize. This innovation would hold the boat horizontal, and a clever arrangement of pumps would allow him to flood the uppermost outer hull, which would (in conjunction with wave action) pull the boat upright. His scheme was to prove these devices by sailing round the world with them, then go into business manufacturing the system.
However, Crowhurst had a very short time in which to build and equip his boat while securing financing and sponsors for the race. In the end, all of his safety devices were left uncompleted; he planned to complete them while underway. Also, many of his spares and supplies were left behind in the confusion of the final preparations. On top of it all, Crowhurst had never sailed on a trimaran before taking delivery of his boat several weeks before the beginning of the race.
On Sunday October 13th experienced sailor Lieutenant Commander Peter Eden volunteered to accompany Crowhurst on his last leg from Cowes to Teignmouth. Crowhurst had fallen into the water several times while in Cowes and as He and Cmdr Eden climbed aboard Teingmouth Electron he once again ended up in the water after slipping on the outboard bracket on the stern of the rubber dinghy. Cmdr Eden's description of his two days with Crowhurst provide the most expert independent assessment we have for both boat and sailor before the start of the race. He recalls that the trimaran sailed immensely swiftly, but could not get no closer to the wind than 60 degrees. The speed often reached 12 knots, but the vibrations encountered caused the screws on the Haslar Self Steering gear to come loose. Cmdr Eden said "We had to keep leaning over the counter to do up the screws. it was a tricky and time consuming business . I told Crowhurst he should get the fixings welded if he wanted it to survive a longer trip!" Eden also commented that the Haslar worked superbly and the boat was "Certainly nippy"
Cmdr Eden reported that Crowhurst's sailing techniques were good, "But I felt his navigation was a mite slapdash. I prefer, even in the channel, to know exactly where I am. He didn't take too much bother with it, merely jotting down figures on few sheets of paper from time to time".
After struggling against westerlies and having to tack out into the Channel twice they arrived at 2.30pm on October 15th, where an enthusiastic BBC film crew started filming Eden in the belief he was Crowhurst. There were 16 days to get ready before the 31st race deadline.
(Source: "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" by Nicolas Tomalin and Ron Hall. Pages 55-56)
Departure and deception
Crowhurst left from TeignmouthTeignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, on the last day permitted by the rules: 31 October 1968. He encountered immediate problems with his boat, his equipment; and, his lack of over ocean sailing skills and experience. In the first few weeks he was making less than half of his planned speed. As he did not have the skill to sail the complex tri-hulled boat at anything near its optimum speed; all the while navigating a good course to reach his circumnavigation waypoints. According to his logs, he gave himself only 50/50 odds of surviving the trip, assuming that he was able to complete some of the safety equipment before reaching the dangerous Southern Ocean. Crowhurst was thus faced with the choice of either quitting the race and facing financial ruin and humiliation, or continuing to an almost certain death in his unseaworthy, unsafe boat. Over the course of November and December 1968, the hopelessness of his situation pushed him into an elaborate deception. He shut down his radio with a plan to loiter in the South Atlantic for several months (while the other boats sailed the Southern Ocean); falsify his navigation logs; then slip back in for the return leg to England. As last place finisher, he assumed his false logs would not receive the scrutiny of the winner's.
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
, he sailed erratically in the southern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, and stopped once in South America (in violation of the rules) to make repairs to his boat. A great deal of the voyage was spent in radio silence, while his supposed position was inferred by extrapolation based on his earlier reports. By early December, based on his false reports, he was being cheered worldwide as the likely winner of the race, though Francis Chichester publicly expressed doubts about the plausibility of Crowhurst's progress.
After rounding the tip of South America in early February, Moitessier had made a dramatic decision in March to drop out of the race and recircle the globe. On 22 April 1969, Robin Knox-Johnston was the first to complete the race, leaving Crowhurst supposedly in the running against Tetley for second to finish, and possibly still able to beat Knox-Johnston's time (due to his later starting date). In reality, Tetley was far in the lead, having long ago passed within 150 nautical miles (278 km) of Crowhurst's hiding place; but believing himself to be running neck-and neck with Crowhurst, Tetley pushed his failing boat (also a 40 feet (12 m) Piver trimaran) to the breaking point, and had to abandon ship on 30 May. The pressure on Crowhurst had therefore increased, since he now looked certain to win the "elapsed time" race. If he appeared to have completed the fastest circumnavigation, his log books would be closely examined by experienced sailors, including Chichester, and the deception in all probability would be exposed. It is also likely that he felt guilty about wrecking Tetley's genuine circumnavigation so near its completion. He had by this time begun to make his way back as if he had rounded Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
.
Crowhurst ended radio transmissions on 29 June. The last log book entry is dated 1 July. Teignmouth Electron was found adrift, unoccupied, on 10 July.
Mental breakdown and death
Crowhurst's behavior as recorded in his logs indicates a complex and conflicted psychological state. His commitment to fabricating the trip seems incomplete and self-defeating, as he reported unrealistically fast progress that was sure to arouse suspicion. By contrast, he spent many hours meticulously constructing false log entries, often more difficult to complete than real entries, due to the celestial navigation research required.The last several weeks of his log entries, once he was facing the real possibility of winning the prize, showed increasing irrationality. In the end, his writings during the voyage - poems, quotations, real and false log entries, and random thoughts - amounted to more than 25,000 words. The log books include an attempt to construct a philosophical reinterpretation of the human condition that would provide an escape from his impossible situation. The number 243
243 (number)
243 is the natural number following 242 and preceding 244.-In mathematics:243 is:*the largest 3-digit number that is a fifth power .*a perfect totient number....
shows up several times in these writings: he originally planned to finish the trip in 243 days, recorded a false distance of 243 nautical miles (450 km) in one day's sailing (which if valid would have been a record day's run for the race), and may have ended his life on the 243rd day (1 July) of his voyage.
His last log entry was on 1 July 1969; it is assumed that he then jumped overboard and drowned. The state of the boat gave no indication that it had been overrun by a rogue wave, or that any accident had occurred which might have caused Crowhurst to fall overboard. He may have taken with him a single deceptive log book and the ship's clock. Three log books (two navigational logs and a radio log) and a large mass of other papers were left on his boat; these communicated his philosophical ideas and revealed his actual navigational course during the voyage.
Although his biographers, Tomalin and Hall, discounted the possibility that some sort of food poisoning contributed to his mental deterioration, they acknowledged that there is insufficient evidence to rule it out.
Aftermath
Teignmouth Electron was found adrift and abandoned on July 10, 1969 by the RMV Picardy (latitude 33 degrees 11 minutes North & longitude 40 degrees 28 minutes West). News of Crowhurst's disappearance led to an air and sea search in the vicinity of the boat and its last estimated course. Examination of his recovered logbooks and papers revealed the attempt at deception, his mental breakdown and eventual suicide. This was reported in the press at the end of July, creating a media sensation.Robin Knox-Johnston
Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir William Robert Patrick "Robin" Knox-Johnston, CBE, RD and bar is an English sailor. He was the first man to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe and was the second winner of the Jules Verne Trophy . For this he was awarded with Blake the ISAF Yachtsman of the Year award...
donated his winnings for fastest circumnavigation (£5,000) to Donald Crowhurst's widow and children. Nigel Tetley
Nigel Tetley
Nigel Tetley was the first person to circumnavigate the world solo in a trimaran.- The race :A native of South Africa, and a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy, he entered the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, which was the first non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race...
was awarded a consolation prize and built a new trimaran.
Teignmouth Electron was later taken to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and was sold multiple times, most recently in 2007, to American artist Michael Jones McKean
Michael Jones McKean
Michael Jones McKean is an American artist. He is known primarily for his large-scale sculptural installations dealing with issues of narration, complexity, representation, materiality and failure.- Biography :...
. The boat still lies decaying on the southwest shore of Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and 5 miles east of Little Cayman. It is about 12 miles long, with an average width of 1 mile...
.
Film
The 1982 French movie "les quarantiemes rugissants" (:fr:Les Quarantièmes rugissants) is directly inspired from the Crowhurst history.The 1986 Soviet film Race of the Century ("Гонка века") gave a dramatic presentation of the events of the Golden Globe Race and the fate of Donald Crowhurst. The movie focused on the idea of competition in a capitalist society as a soul-consuming "rat race", where all community members including children are under constant pressure, and failure and poverty are not tolerated. It portrayed Crowhurst as a deeply honest man being forced into a dangerous unwinnable enterprise by his disastrous financial situation and the greed of his entrepreneur Best. The screenplay took some liberties with the facts, such as downplaying Crowhurst's role in his own destruction, and reporting Tetley as having been killed in a wreckage instead of committing suicide many years later (probably to increase the tension). Crowhurst's suicide is ascribed chiefly to the inability of a moral person to survive in an immoral society. The film's highlights include a realistic depiction of sailing, an endearing portrayal of the Crowhurst family, and a dramatic enactment of Donald's descent into insanity leading to fatalism.
This film has passed unnoticed, and today it is known mainly because of Natalia Guseva (Наталья Гусева) had played the role of Crowhurst's daughter Rachel.
British artist Tacita Dean
Tacita Dean
Tacita Dean is an English visual artist who works primarily in film. She is one of the Young British Artists, and was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 1998.-Life and work:...
created two video works entitled Disappearance at Sea, partly inspired by the story of Donald Crowhurst. She has also written about Teignmouth Electron, journeying to Cayman Brac to visit the wreck of the boat.
Film Four commissioned a documentary based on the affair in 2006, called Deep Water
Deep Water (film)
Deep Water is a documentary film, produced by Jonny Persey, opening in the UK on 15 December 2006. It is based on the true story of Donald Crowhurst and the 1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race round the world alone in a yacht....
. The film reconstructs Crowhurst's voyage from his own audio tapes and cine film, interwoven with archive footage and interviews. It was given a limited cinema release in the UK. and is available on DVD.
Stage
Playwright/actor Chris Van Strander's 1999 play Daniel Pelican adapted the Crowhurst story to a 1920s setting. It was staged site-specifically aboard New York City's FRYING PAN Lightship.In 1998 the New York-based theatre group The Builders' Association based the first half of their production "Jet Lag" on Crowhurst's story, although they changed the character's name to Richard Dearborn. (See G. Giesekam, Staging The Screen, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, 151-6)
Novels
In 2009, Isabelle AutissierIsabelle Autissier
Isabelle Autissier is a French sailor, navigator, writer, and broadcaster. She is celebrated for being the first woman to have completed a solo world navigation in competition ....
, herself a renowned sailor, published the novel Seule la mer s'en souviendra (roughly translates as "Only the sea will remember") based on Crowhurst's voyage.
The 1993 book "Outerbridge Reach" by Robert Stone (Dog Soldiers, Children of Light) is a novel inspired by the reporting on Crowhurst. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The title character of Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
's 2010 novel The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim is the ninth novel by British author Jonathan Coe, first published in the UK on 27 May 2010. It has a picaresque plot, told by the title character in the first person as he journeys first from Australia to his home in Watford, England and then on a promotional...
is driven by his obsession with Crowhurst's story.
Other
British musician the Third Eye FoundationMatt Elliott (musician)
Matt Elliott is a guitarist and singer from Bristol, UK, who plays dark folk music. He also produced and recorded electronic music under the name The Third Eye Foundation....
released a song called "Donald Crowhurst" on the album "Ghost".
British jazz musician Django Bates
Django Bates
Django Bates , is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and band leader. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. He currently lives in Copenhagen where he is a professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and leader of the StoRMChaser orchestra.-Career:Django Bates was born in Beckenham,...
included a track called "The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" on his 1997 album "Like Life".
The rock band Stiltskin
Stiltskin
Stiltskin is a Scottish post-grunge/rock band, who first achieved widespread popularity in the mid 1990s. Currently, Stiltskin's only original member is vocalist Ray Wilson...
performed a song called "Horse" on their album The Mind's Eye, which examined the affair from Crowhurst's perspective.
Scottish band Captain and the Kings released a single in early 2011 entitled "It Is The Mercy", based on Crowhurst's exploits.
British band iLiKETRAiNS
ILiKETRAiNS
I Like Trains are an alternative/post-rock band from Leeds, England. The group play brooding songs featuring sparse piano and guitar, baritone vocals, uplifting choral passages and reverberant orchestral crescendos...
wrote a song called "The Deception", which appears on their album Elegies to Lessons Learnt
Elegies to Lessons Learnt
Elegies to Lessons Learnt is I Like Trains' first studio album, and was released on 1 October 2007.As with their earlier EP, Progress Reform, many of the songs cover historical events...
, based upon Donald Crowhurst's story.
Other sources
- The 1999 book Fakes, Frauds, and Flimflammery by Andreas SchroederAndreas SchroederAndreas Schroeder is a German-born Canadian poet, novelist, and nonfiction writer who lives in the small town of Roberts Creek, British Columbia...
, devotes an entire chapter to Crowhurst's adventure.
External links
- Teignmouth Museum - includes map of actual and false journey (The original link is broken; this is a link to the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
, archiving the state of the page 4 June 2004) - A Sunday Times article 2006
- Drama on the waves: The Life And Death of Donald Crowhurst
- Logbuch Donald (German)
- http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deepwater/
- Donald Crowhurst's madness discussed in 'Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius' by Hans C. Ohanian