Robin Knox-Johnston
Sir William Robin Knox-Johnston , CBE (born March 17, 1939 in Putney , London ) was the first person to circumnavigate the world non-stop in single-handed sailing .
Life
As a participant in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race , Robin Knox-Johnston started on June 14, 1968 with the 9.7 m long wooden ship Suhaili , to sail around the world without stopping. After the following Bernard Moitessier , instead of returning to Europe, sailed on to Tahiti (a total of around one and a half circumnavigations of the world non-stop), Knox-Johnston was in first place. After 30,123 nautical miles and 312 days alone at sea, he returned to the port of Falmouth (Cornwall) with his ship on April 22, 1969 . In the race, the competitor Donald Crowhurst , whose family he gave the prize to the winner, died. The then 29-year-old was named Commander of the British Empire by the Queen for the achievement of being the first person to have sailed the world alone without a stopover .
In 1994, Knox-Johnston and Peter Blake won the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by sailing boat - in the record time of 74 days, 22 hours, 17 minutes and 22 seconds. In 1995 he was ennobled by the Queen to a Knight Bachelor degree .
On July 21, 2012, he carried the Olympic flame through Greenwich.
Awards
- In 1994 Robin Knox-Johnston was named "World Sailor of the Year" by the International Sailing Federation .
- 2007 First honorary member (inductee) in the newly created ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame
literature
- Knox-Johnston, Robin: A World of My Own. The singlehanded, non-stop Circumnavigation of the World in Suhaili. William Morrow & Co. New York NY 1970, ISBN 0-304-93473-9 (English).
- Ronald Schenkel : Not yet retired at retirement age. 40 years ago Robin Knox-Johnston set out on the first non-stop circumnavigation of the world - an exceptionally lively sailing legend. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , May 20, 2008, online version .
- Eakin, Chris: A Race Too Far - The tragic story of the 1968 Golden Globe yacht race. Ebury Press (April 2, 2009), ISBN 978-0091932596 (English). - Discusses u. a. also the question of whether Moitessier would have reached its destination before or after Knox-Johnston.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Knights and Dames: KIN-LYV at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
- ↑ ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston ( Memento of the original from June 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 13, 2009
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Knox-Johnston, Robin |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Knox-Johnston, Sir William Robin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British sailor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 17, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Putney , London |