GIPSY moth IV GIPSY MOTH IV Around again

Gipsy Moth IV, Sir ’s world-girdling ketch and symbol of 1960s exploration, was taken out of her ignominious berth at and restored. As she sets off around the world again, Steffan Meyric Hughes reports on the rebirth of a legend

Publisher, daredevil nside Westminster Abbey’s south aviator and OSTAR winner cloister, the little-known Navigators’ Francis Chichester – his I Memorial Plaque records the names, aim was “to get sport vessels and routes of “the three great out of trying” English circumnavigators”: Sir , Captain James Cooke, and Sir Francis Chichester. It’s as clear an indication as any of the way Chichester

PPL captured the nation’s imagination when

14 CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2005 GIPSY moth IV t: PPL t: ook, I nse sn ook, m hoto: gra h a p hoto: ain m The famous shot of Gipsy Moth IV running down her easting in heavy seas as she navigated Cape Horn in 1967. “Wild horses could not drag me there in a small boat again,” said Chichester.

he sailed single-handed around the world the BBC and in the Sunday Times and The legend of the late 60s, a symbol of an in 1966/7. He stopped only once, in Guardian newspapers, the voyage sculpted extraordinary time of exploration: a decade , following the route of the solo into the shape we that started with the first voyage to the ships; the infamous ‘eastabout’ way through recognise today, and prompted the Golden bottom of the sea and ended with the the Southern Ocean and rounding the Globe race the following year. moon landing. His return to in three great capes. It’s easy to forget now, in the sobriety 1967 was attended by as many as half Chichester was 65 when he finished. of Westminster Abbey, with the sound of a million cheering fans. Gipsy Moth had With its record-breaking speed of pass- tourists stifling coughs in the background, circled the world in the sailing time of age, heavy sponsorship and coverage on but Chichester – and his voyage – was a 226 days, narrowly missing her target of

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Specification LOA: 53ft 1in (16.2m) LWL: 38ft 6in (11.7m) Beam: 10ft 6in (3.2m) Draught: 7ft 9in (2.4m) Sail area: 854sqft (79.3m2) PPL m sn ook m t er silves o lin c gra h a The design Chichester never liked Chichester never liked Gipsy Moth IV. Their relationship was one he did this remarkably well. She had to be light enough to keep of mutual antagonism, from the glassy foredeck that sent moving in light airs, and strong enough to cope with the Chichester flying, injuring his leg during trials in the Solent, to his Southern Ocean.” She had to be light so she could be driven by various complaints about the “cantankerous ketch”, which fill the a sail area manageable for one man. She had to be big to carry second chapter of Gipsy Moth Circles the World. the waterline length necessary to generate a good hull speed. It was a duel that began before Gipsy Moth was launched, as Two of Chichester’s main complaints were that Gipsy Moth the boat was much bigger than Chichester had originally wanted was initially very tender while heeling, and that she required – a result of compromises between him and the constant sail-changing. Colin Silvester explains that designers to design a yacht with a difficult brief: to “she was designed to keep the wetted surface down take a crew of one – an old one at that – around the and pick up form stability when she heeled. She was world as quickly as possible. The first time he saw her meant to sail on her ear. By and large she did it.” In on the water, he remarked to his wife Sheila, “My God this respect, Gipsy Moth was similar to Pen Duick II, she’s a rocker.” Their relationship never improved. the first boat designed for the rigours of the OSTAR, Despite Chichester’s complaints though, Gipsy Moth and Chichester’s nemesis when he was beaten in that accomplished what she was designed to do: the race by Tabarly in 1964, having won the first in 1960. longest distance sailed without landfall was nearly Nigel Irens – designer of the Gipsy Moth of today, doubled from Vito Dumas’ record of 7,400 miles – and Ellen MacArthur’s B&Q – is cautious, stating that “the a sailing time of 226 days to cover 28,500 miles didn’t PPL real acid test will be her second circumnavigation”. just break records, it set the new yardstick. Whether someone will dare to be as honest as Chichester is Colin Silvester was one of the designers who worked on unlikely though, as Gipsy Moth is now a revered celebrity Gipsy Moth IV, and now acts as custodian of the Illingworth and dressed in the sling-and-arrow-proof armour of a noble cause. Primrose design records. He feels it’s time to give the designers I don’t blame Chichester one iota [for his complaints],” some credit for Chichester’s achievement. “Angus [Primrose] had justifies David Green, boss at the UKSA. “The boat was too late, to give him the biggest, lightest, fastest boat he could and I think too big, his leg was injured and the bottle didn’t break!”

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RDF: the satnav of its day. Chichester listening for Morse code on a radio direction finder

matching the time of the great like ; but it didn’t matter. Every record in the book had been smashed – You say you want a revolution including the longest solo passage of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston tells CB a little about the difference between 14,100 miles to his stopover in Sydney– circumnavigation 60s style and the world of the modern circumnavigator: and a new era in circumnavigation had “In straight sailing terms, it’s easier now because they know it can be done – we begun. The Queen knighted Chichester with didn’t. Communications are reliable and weather information is available. Things like the same sword used to honour Francis food and clothing have moved on, as well as sail-making and building materials. And, Drake, and he became a national hero. as voyages are so much faster, there is also less weight aboard, and less wear and tear But Chichester hated Gipsy Moth IV on boats and skippers. Finally, you only have to look at the from the moment he saw her launched, boats in use then to appreciate that no one knew what the ideal and, until late last year, the purpose-built boat for a circumnavigation was; we took what we thought Illingworth & Primrose-designed 54ft were the right boats and hoped they were.” (17m) ketch lay semi-buried in a pit next For its time, Chichester’s was a modern circumnavigation, to Cutty Sark at Greenwich – “lying there characterised by sponsorship, a boat built for the purpose and in silent pain,” as a Dire Straits song about regular, if sparse, communication with the media. One look at the boat and her skipper later put it. the drop-down panel (see p18) on Gipsy Moth’s nav station Fast forward to 2002. Yachting Monthly’s that describes so neatly the “then and now of technology” tells editor Paul Gelder, looking for a way to the story though. From the long months of solitude punctuated celebrate the magazine’s centenary in by occasional radio dispatches of the 1960s voyages to the 2006, struck upon the idea of sending push-button connectivity and team back-up of the record-breaking voyages of the Gipsy Moth around again crewed by MacArthurs of the world today, it’s clear that long-distance solo voyaging has come a underprivileged youngsters: “We had long way from its misanthropic, Corinthian beginnings to a big-money, technological been visiting Gipsy Moth for a while,” says challenge, where every hour gained in speed is a small victory. The two worlds may Gelder. “The omens seemed right; our collide though... Dame Ellen has been murmuring about taking Gipsy Moth across the centenary would coincide with 40 years Atlantic when the venerable old girl returns home for the second time in 2008. since Chichester’s voyage. Thinking of it

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wasn’t the issue. It was a tailor-made opportunity.” The real issue was finding – read ‘funding’ if you like – a way to save Gipsy Moth. When the UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) stepped in, in October 2004, with £40,000 of the necessary cash and the same again in enthusiasm, things started moving very fast, starting with the purchase of Gipsy Moth from the Maritime Trust for the token £1 and a gin and tonic. Chichester’s own spirit left him when the gin did, so the drink would symbolise hope and high spirits. The portent was borne out on 17 November last year when she was lifted from her trench and taken back to the yard where she was built: Camper & Nicholsons in Gosport. Twelve-thousand man-hours were squeezed into 150 days by a huge team that included shipwrights from Gipsy

Moth’s original build, staff of the UKSA, sn ook m and the tireless efforts of Campers, who G ra h a did the work at cost price. Above: Original Her launch on 20 June – “five weeks instruments fold up ahead of schedule,” according to Camper’s to show the modern project manager Martyn Langford – was a navigation system big occasion attended by a crowd of hundreds, and ringed by television news vans. It proved to be the beginning of an unprecedented series of fêting for the ketch: the VIB’s summer schedule has included opening Cowes Week and the Southampton Boat Show and appearing at IFOS and the Fleet Review, as well as posing for photo-shoots with patrons Princess Anne and Dame Ellen MacArthur. ppl

Above left: The deck fittings are original Above right: Chichester tunes the Marconi Kestrel radio Left: The original stove, restored in m sn ook m a garden shed by

G ra h a a supporter

The restoration Time was running out for Gipsy Moth IV when she was exhumed in November last year. Thirty-seven years of rainwater had taken their toll, and surveyor Bill Shaw explained that she was in “pretty poor condition overall. If we hadn’t pulled her out when we did, she might not have made it.” The Maritime Workshop had renewed Gipsy Moth’s decking in

PPL 1997, something that Bill believes played a large part in her The moment the young circumnavigators’ parents would never have survival. Her hull was generally sound, but the 31-page survey believed: on 20 June, Gipsy Moth IV was lowered into the water after showed that the cockpit, with the most exposure to the weather, 37 years in a dry-dock. At the original launch, Chichester was full of was completely rotten and needed replacing in its entirety. Other foreboding. This time, the atmosphere was one of optimism. problems included rotten planking and modernisation for her new duty as a sail-training vessel for youths. This included mounting

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New hatch by C&N shipwright Eric Goulding m sn ook m m sn ook m G ra h a gra h a

Above left: The cockpit was rebuilt Above right: GM4 with cockpit removed Left: As Chichester had it – though he’d be surprised to see it this level Right: Rotten bow planking was cut out and replaced m sn ook m m sn ook m G ra h a gra h a the original instruments, including the echo sounder and Marconi This was possible because of the huge support shown by the Kestrel radio, on a panel that folds down over their modern British marine industry, who, according to Paul Gelder, have been counterparts – the ubiquitous satnav and associated equipment. “overwhelmingly supportive” – the C&N boatyard waived their profit The idea was to restore Gipsy Moth to a condition as near to margin for the exercise; staff at the UKSA worked to restore original as the rigours of a life on the ocean wave, and the masts; and a host of other people helped, including subsequently as a living exhibit, would allow. For shipwrights involved in the original Gipsy Moth this reason, the hull, six layers of cold-moulded project. At times C&N staff put in 90-hour weeks African mahogany, was given a final coating of and up to 30 people worked on her at once, some epoxy, a decision the UKSA and Yachting Monthly from home – retired C&N shipwright Eric Goulding ppl “agonised over”. built a new companionway hatch in his shed. Eric The work was done at the Camper & Nicholsons yard worked on Gipsy Moth the first time around. The “can- and was characterised mainly by its extraordinary speed: from tankerous ketch” is now reckoned to be 87 per cent original and will the time when the progressively destructive surveys ended and be a sailing exhibit at a new maritime heritage centre in Cowes, a the restoration began properly to her launch was only 150 days. move which should insure her survival for the foreseeable future.

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short time: “It’ll be intense for them, they’ll learn a lot because they’ll have to.” It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Robert McLaren, 16, who, in his original letter of application to the scheme, described home – a council flat in a high- rise estate, where his mother doesn’t like him going out for fear of his safety. Other participants include leukaemia recoverers. When Chichester went th around in 1966/7, many thought h ea

x ine he was too old. His spirit of a m determination is something the Gipsy Moth team hopes will be As we went to press, Gipsy Moth passed down to inspire the had just left Plymouth on 25 voyage’s participants – and, September to circle the world again. through teachers’ packs in every This time she will take two and a half school in the UK, to a new generation. years and transit through the Panama “I hate being frightened, but, even more, Canal, with support donated by the Blue I detest being prevented by fright,” was Water Rally cruising organisation. She to cleaning the loo. For the teens, it will be how Chichester described his voyage. will circumnavigate in 31 legs, each the first time dealing without ‘comforts’ like The project, which still needs funding crewed by a skipper and mate, a showers, hot water and TV – and learning (see Usefuls, p91), will be transmitting journalist and three young people. The some of life’s lessons that attend such live updates and video footage to www. crew will partake in every aspect of the deprivation. Skipper Richard Baggett has gipsymoth.org. The charts here show her boat’s maintenance, from trimming sails confidence in their ability to learn a lot in a 1966/7 and 2005/6 proposed routes.

The glitz and press coverage that follow Gipsy Moth wherever she goes is simply astonishing – never more so than when she recently left Plymouth, for the second time, to circumnavigate with her young charges. And the boat, though restored with great fortitude, still isn’t a kind and sweet- handling yacht. Sailing her in the Solent revealed excessive heel – at least initially – and, as skipper Richard Baggett told TV crews on the 25 September at the boat’s departure – “she didn’t go backwards in

1966 and she doesn’t go backwards now.” n ho us to

The affection for Gipsy Moth IV is in dan marked contrast to the beginning of her life: an ominous launch at which she stuck Lively Lady on the slipway; a launch which was too late, On 4 July 1968 Sir Alec Rose, the “greengrocer from Southsea” and unassuming 59- of a boat that was too big, at which the year-old, became a folk hero after circumnavigating single-handed in Lively Lady, the bottle didn’t break, in a cere- 36ft (11.5m) Fred Shepherd-designed teak and paduak yawl, a mony Chichester didn’t approve year after Chichester. Rose was duly knighted by the queen and of, and a launch that heralded his boat has been sailed by the Meridian Trust since his death in the dissolution of the then 1991. Rose had intended to leave a few weeks before Chichester masters of ocean-racing design, to “make a match of it”, but a series of unlucky incidents – Illingworth and Primrose. culminating in his boat falling off her stand – killed the idea, and

In a sad parallel to the o se he had to leave a year later. Offshore adventurer Alan Priddy heard Illingworth and Primrose story r of Gipsy Moth’s plans to do it again and decided to refurbish alec 40 years ago, Gipsy Moth IV Lively Lady to go, too, with her own cargo of underprivileged was the last boat ever to be (re-)launched at young people. History has repeated itself though: this time red tape has dictated that the Camper & Nicholsons yard (see Tell Priddy (who holds a number of offshore records including a transatlantic crossing via Tales, p7), which will close in October. the Arctic Circle in an open RIB) and the rest of his afterguard crew must undergo Chichester’s voyage marked the beginning training to get the qualifications necessary for insurance. Look out for the full story of one era and this voyage coincides with when the oldest surviving circumnavigating yacht goes round again next year. To make the end of another. But could there be a donation to the charitable fund, see ‘Supporters of Lively Lady’ in Usefuls, p91. a better epitaph for the famous yard?

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