The Romantic Challenge

There is in Sir Francis Chichester a restless spirit never satisfied with his achievements. Throughout his adventurous life this quiet Englishman has sought to challenge odds that other, younger, stronger men have declared insuperable. As a pilot, as a yachtsman, as a navigator, even as a man who broke the grip of cancer, Sir Francis has always been a pioneer. Where he has led, others have followed: but when he has triumphed, he has at once sought a new and greater challenge.This is a book about such a challenge. With the feasibility of long-distance voyages proven beyond doubt-not least by his own remarkable circumnavigation in 1966-Sir Francis turned at once to the next great barrier facing the single-hander, the "speed barrier", setting himself the staggering target of sailing 4,000 miles between two fixed points on the earth's surface in 20 days-an average of 200 miles a day whatever the wind, whatever the weather.In this book he tells of the planning, the calculations and the sheer hard work that in January 1971 led him and Gipsy Moth V to their "starting line" for a race which is the single-hander's "4-Minute Mile" and Marathon, combined in one gruelling, non-stop, murderous ocean race. This for a man-a unique, incredible man-in his seventieth year, was the romantic challenge.