The Francis Chichester 60th Anniversary Challenge
by John Passmore 13 May 07:54 UTC
27 August 2026
John Passmore aboard his Rival 32 Samsara © oldmansailing
This year is the 60th anniversary of solo sailor Francis Chichester setting out to race around the world against the time of the great clipper ship Cutty Sark.
Chichester narrowly failed in his attempt, but he became the first person to sail alone around the world with only one stop and set several endurance and speed records along the way. He returned to global acclaim and a knighthood.
Today, his achievement is largely forgotten. Just a year later, Robin Knox-Johnston went round without stopping.
Yet, in many ways, Chichester's achievement is the more amazing: He set off without adequate sailing trials in a boat which has since been acknowledged as possibly the worst yacht ever launched. In even moderate winds, Gipsy Moth IV would heel alarmingly and become impossible to steer.
Chichester himself was 66 when he set out. When he stopped in Sydney, a newspaper campaign begged him to give up rather than face "certain death" in the waters of Cape Horn.
Yet he sailed all the way round and returned as a hero.
And promptly found himself sidelined by history.
All the same, Chichester's achievement stands as one of the world's great feats of endurance. He has been an inspiration to a generation of sailors.
John Passmore was eleven years old when his parents took him to the Walton & Frinton Yacht Club to hear the great man describe his 1960 victory in the first Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. Passmore was captivated and vowed that he, too, would one day race solo across the Atlantic.
He did - competing in the 1988 race.
He has since crossed the Atlantic solo by a variety of routes another five times. Currently, he is embarked on his sixth crossing in order to be ready to set off from Plymouth on August 27th - just as Chichester did - on his own circumnavigation.
As a former foreign correspondent and author of the Old Man Sailing books and blog, Passmore will write about this voyage, comparing his experience with Chichester's book Gipsy Moth Circles the World.
The course might be the same, but in many ways, the contrast could not be greater.
Chichester was sailing a 54ft boat with a host of shortcomings. His communications were brief and not always reliable.
Passmore has been living abroad his Rival 32 Samsara since 2017 and covered tens of thousands of miles in her. He will send back daily reports and podcasts by Starlink (and will carry a spare set to be sure). There will be videos and webinars. People will be able to follow the adventure in real time at www.oldmansailing.com.