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Gipsy moth iv: a dud or a classic.

• August 1, 2021

As watch leader aboard the world’s most famous yacht, for two legs of her second circumnavigation, Dick Durham ponders the question: Did Chichester circumnavigate in spite of his yacht?

Before we’d cleared the Strait of Gibraltar, night had fallen and the wind had risen: 40 knots of apparent, bang on the nose.  The pencil-slim hull of Gipsy Moth IV , the 54ft ketch Francis Chichester had earned himself a knighthood in, went over on her ear and as I eased the mainsheet, the boom end dragged through the rough sea. Skipper Steve Rouse and mate Antonia Nicholson hurried forward and started clawing to get the mainsail down. The pitifully arcane roller-reefing system had taken an age to get sail off her, so they decided to drop the sail completely and rig up a jury slab-reefing system instead. We had to try to do all this while trying to navigate through the treacherous shipping lanes of the Gibraltar Straights. Having stowed the mainsail on deck, we ran off under headsails alone to the north, which of course was the wrong way.

On my watch that night, Myles Grant-Butler, a Dulwich College scholar and Yorkshire catering student Martin Dalby, were violently sea-sick. The third, Rahim Kherag, another Dulwich College schoolboy, was dealing admirably with his first-ever sail, even though he wrote in his log: ‘I spent much of the night on deck terrified, holding on for my life, cold, wet and scared sick, as Steve and Antonia fought with the sails and Dick wrestled with the tiller….I felt helpless before nature…the sea can be kind but also evil. It is a night I will remember for a long time.’

On hearing of our wild night, the owners of Gipsy Moth IV , the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA) told us we should have left the satellite-linked video system running so our misery could be shared with others!

It was a view that skipper Rouse, a former company sergeant major with the Royal Anglian Regiment, who’d served tours in Northern Ireland, had an opinion about, but one which is not possible to publish in a family magazine.

Steve had already told me what he thought about Gipsy Moth’s directional stability: ‘She’s like trying to steer a supermarket trolley on ice’.

My view is that with a reefing system that worked, a hull that had a greater beam, and perhaps a heavier keel, 40 knots, even on the nose, should have been manageable for an ocean-going boat in excess of 50ft LOA.

So, what was I doing on Gipsy Moth IV , 14 years ago? Well, I was then features editor of Yachting Monthly , the magazine whose editor, Paul Gelder, had decided to rescue the yacht from her sarcophagus at Greenwich. She had been entombed, rotting away ever since Sir Francis Chichester had dispensed with her having sailed solo, with one-stop, around the world in 1966-67.

Paul’s vision was to get the yacht restored, re-built and get her to make a second circumnavigation – albeit not via the Five Capes as Chichester had done, but through the less demanding cruising routes, and back to Plymouth to mark both the 40th anniversary of Chichester’s voyage, and the centenary of Yachting Monthly .

It cost £1 million pounds to get her back into a seaworthy condition and the project was backed by the late Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, and Sir Chay Blyth. The marine industry swung into action supplying kit and the boat’s original builders, Camper & Nicholson, rebuilt her rotten hull at their Gosport yard.

Among all the fuss and bother, the down to earth and likeable Murlo Primrose, widow of Angus Primrose, one of the two naval architects who drew up the plans of Gipsy Moth IV (the other being John Illingworth), told me that Chichester was not at all happy with the cold-moulded plywood boat. ‘He blamed Illingworth all the way to Sydney and Primrose all the way back,’ she told me with a wicked smile.

Certainly, in his book Gipsy Moth Circles The World (Hodder & Stoughton 1967), Chichester complains endlessly about his boat. That she was ‘…horribly tender, lying over to a light breeze,’ ‘greatly under canvassed in light airs,’ and ‘in a gale all the ordinary sail has to be stripped off to make way for storm sails.’

Not only that but her decks leaked, she was uncomfortable below, and her self-steering required a ‘monkey to steer her when she was at a 35-degree angle and an elephant to take the helm when it became uncontrollable in a squall’

Once he arrived in Sydney, Chichester had the keel deepened, ordered quadrant to be fitted to staunch the deck leaks and had his Lewmar winches – which had regularly jammed – swapped for Barlow equivalents. He also had his self-steering gear rebuilt, and changed her rigging leads as he had found her difficult to balance.

On his way home he suffered a capsize in the Tasman Sea, after which the forehatch failed to close properly upon righting and water flooded below.

Three days out from Tenerife in an ugly cross sea and 40 knots of wind, again, we found the mainsail and large jib was overpowering the narrow hull. We reduced sail to staysail alone and tried to re-set the mizzen which should have provided a balanced heavy weather sail plan. Instead, it caused her to stall, and we rolled, rolled, rolled. The locker doors opened as she rolled to port then shut again as she rolled to starboard.

When Antonia started supper she opened a locker, one that hadn’t already opened itself, and was showered with jars, bottles and tubs and narrowly missed being concussed by a large jar of Marmite.

We could have cooked dinner on the heat from Steve’s language! But instead, we were left with the ancient Primus stove which was like trying to boil an egg with napalm.

A day and a night out from Tenerife, I was off watch in Chichester’s quarter berth when the boat was pooped; the cockpit filled with saltwater, level with the benches, and slopped over the washboards and baptised my head.

Chichester was heavily criticised for bad-mouthing his boat and so was obliged to say something about her which was positive. He compared her to Lisette, a mare ridden by Napoleon’s ADC, notorious for being hard to control but whose speed saved his life: ‘I admire Lisette immensely, but I do not think I could have been fond of her’.

I was glad I only had to suffer 740 miles offshore rather than the 29,630 that Chichester put up with.

During her second circumnavigation, she clocked up 28,264 miles with a 610-day voyage with 10 skippers, 19 mates, 32 watch leaders and 96 crew of youngsters which included drug addicts doing cold-turkey, ex-cons, and those recovering from serious illness. Gipsy Moth IV was a sort of Noah’s Ark of social justice.

As she neared the end of her globe-circling passage, I joined Gipsy Moth again, this time in the Suez and transited the canal aboard her. I can’t say I was unhappy to transfer to another yacht once we were in the Mediterranean.

As Paul summarised in his book Gipsy Moth IV, A Legend Sails Again (Wiley Nautical 2007), the boat was:

*Shipwrecked in the South Sea

*Burned from an onboard fire

*Battered by a 50-knot storm

And all that was with 10 skippers, not just one.

Gipsy Moth IV is a historical icon and as such was worth restoring. But in my opinion, of the two most famous craft ever to become static exhibits at Greenwich, it is Cutty Sark that should have been sailed around the world again and Gipsy Moth IV which should have remained dry-docked.

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Gipsy Moth IV: The World’s Most Famous Yacht is Up for Sale

In 1967, Sir Francis Chichester became the first person to sail around the world solo from west to east. He had previously been the first to fly solo across the Tasman Sea, pioneered fighter pilot navigation during the Second World War, and won the first solo transatlantic sailing race in Gipsy Moth III while recovering from cancer. But it was his journey in Gipsy Moth IV that became international news and has inspired sailors for decades. Now the most famous yacht in the world is up for sale . For a mere $229,500, a piece of nautical history can be yours.

Photo: Sandeman Yacht Company

For years after Chichester’s iconic voyage, the Gipsy Moth sat on display in Greenwich. But yachting magazine editor Paul Gelder believed that such a craft should continue to sail the oceans, and in 2004, it was purchased for £1 and a gin-and-tonic (Chichester’s favorite drink) from the trust that administered it. It was rebuilt and actually did a second circumnavigation.

In 2010, another trust took it over with a promise to keep it in sailing condition. But COVID hit that small charity hard, and the trustees decided to sell the fabled yacht and to donate the proceeds from the sale to other sailing-related charities.

Francis Chichester set out from Portsmouth in August 1966. When he arrived back home 226 days later, over 300 boats, horns and sirens blaring, along with a quarter of a million people gathered to cheer him. It was a historic event that was televised globally. Shortly afterwards, he was knighted.

Chichester and Gipsy Moth IV broke the fastest voyage around the world by a small vessel, the longest passage by a small vessel (25,000km), and the third true circumnavigation by a small vessel via Cape Horn.

Photo: Chichester Archive/PPL

Gipsy Moth IV was designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose, and built by Camper & Nicholsons in 1966 specifically for the circumnavigation. The 16m, 16-tonne boat had her masts overhauled and new chainplates fitted in 2020. She has a cold-moulded, six-layer Honduras mahogany hull, a fibreglass outer skin, steamed timbers, a laminated one-piece hardwood backbone, laminated hardwood floors and a fibreglass plywood deck.

Photo: Gipsy Moth Trust

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Great yacht design 12 – Gipsy Moth IV

Gipsy Moth IV, Francis Chichester’s cantankerous ketch, is one of the most controversial of all yacht designs

Contradictory design parameters mean that Gipsy Moth IV  is an interesting case study, but not such a pleasant sail.

Having just won the first singlehanded transatlantic race in 1960, Francis Chichester wrote “I think my yacht is too big for single handed sailing… A 9-tonner is the ideal size, in my opinion”. His yacht for that (and the 1964 race) was the Robert Clark design Gipsy Moth III which was 13 tons (Thames), so Chichester was advocating a considerably smaller boat. When he had the opportunity to build a custom yacht in 1965 specifically to sail around the world single-handed, he commissioned the design from the partnership of John Illingworth (who had redesigned Gipsy Moth III’s mast) & Angus Primrose. The design and build process was difficult.

The final design was stretched to 10.4 tons displacement (and 18.5 tons Thames, more than twice what Chichester had originally asked for); when Chichester protested, Illingworth explained that due to her length she would be easily driven. Chichester also complained about the proposed separate rudder, so it was agreed to extend the keel so the rudder could hang off the sternpost. It sounds like a most curious way for the design to evolve, and things did not improve. When she was launched she proved horribly tender. Forced into adding a ton to the keel, she was eventually 11.5 tons displacement. A whole chapter of his book “Gipsy Moth Circles the World” is devoted to a detailed discussion of the problems

In “Further Offshore” (1969) Illingworth replied to Chichester’s version of events. Illingworth had advocated a schooner rig, but Chichester insisted on ketch, and limited the maximum size of the working sails for handling reasons (Chichester was 64 and had a long history of health problems). Working from the sail plan to derive the hull shape, Primrose went for length to generate speed potential, but was handicapped by Chichester’s resistance to a larger boat; the result was very narrow and, with insufficient ballast, tender. The extra ton of ballast rectified things, in Illingworth’s opinion, so the result was “very adequately stable”; but Chichester was still far from happy with her stability and (with the rig size by then fixed) felt she was also now under-canvassed.

The parameters are telling. A beam / length ratio of 0.27 is narrow, and ballast ratios associated with this length / beam ratio are more usually approaching 50% (or more) to provide the necessary righting moment; in any event, waterline beam effectively determines initial stability, so this was always going to be a boat that tended to sail at a large angle of heel.

By keeping her light, Primrose was evidently trying to minimise wetted surface area, but Chichester’s insistence on a long keel offset that at a stroke. The “bite” from the aft end of the keel was presumably part of the same thinking, but it was filled in when she reached Sydney in an attempt to improve her directional stability; Chichester complained that she rolled (a characteristic she shared with Dorade) and tended to broach when off the wind. Other complaints were that the helm was impossibly heavy, that she would hobby-horse in moderate seas, was very sensitive to sail area, trim and heel angle, had a tendency to slam on the wind, would not point in any sort of sea, and would not run downwind under bare poles. The remarkably fine waterlines, especially aft, are certainly contributory to some of the behavioural quirks, but Chichester’s complaints are evidently exacerbated by his antagonism to the design; he obviously took against it from the start, and was quick to damn and slow to praise as a result. On the other hand he recorded some fine runs; 190 miles in the first 25 hours (average 7.6 knots), 1,400 miles in eight days; and the pairing completed the 29,630 mile circumnavigation in 226 days of sailing. A twitchy, flawed thoroughbred for a man that wanted a steady pony, perhaps, but she makes an interesting study in the art and science of yacht design.

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Gipsy Moth IV

One of the most famous sailors of his day, Sir Francis Chichester broke seven records when he sailed Gipsy Moth IV 29,360 miles around the earth in nine months and a day.

See artefacts from the voyage

Visit the  Buckler’s Hard Museum  to discover the full facts of the dramatic Gipsy IV story – which included several floodings and a capsizing!

THE GIPSY MOTH IV STORY

The dream is born

Sir Francis Chichester became a mooring holder on the  Beaulieu River  in the 1950s with his yachts Gipsy Moth II and Gipsy Moth III, named after the de Havilland Gipsy Moth aircraft which he’d flown in the 1920s and 1930s.

Preparations

Chichester commissioned a new yacht for the journey, a 54ft ketch he named Gipsy Moth IV. Built by Camper & Nicholson’s boatyard in Gosport, Gipsy Moth IV was specially designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose to deal with the pressures of an extended solo voyage.

Intense preparations for the journey were soon underway, with local people playing a vital role in areas such as the rigging and food supplies. Buckler’s Hard shopkeeper Mrs Rhoda Martin was tasked with preserving eggs for his journey (an assignment that involved covering the shells with liquid paraffin) as well as de-eyeing hundreds of potatoes to prevent them from sprouting.

In a transcript of an interview with Mrs Martin in 1991, she said: “He said to me ‘Mrs Martin, I’ve got some eggs that you preserved for me that are good now but eggs I bought in Plymouth have gone bad’.”

They’re off!

After some last-minute alterations to the ballast in Gipsy Moth’s keel, 64-year-old Chichester set out from Buckler’s Hard for trials on the Solent on 12th August 1966 before finally leaving Plymouth on August 27th to begin his journey around the globe.

Chichester spent 226 days at sea, with only one stop in Sydney, but the voyage was by no means smooth sailing… The self-steering mechanism broke during storms, forcing Chichester to rig up a system of his own design, and at the start of his return journey Gipsy Moth IV capsized after being hit by a freak wave.

After battling through several floodings (and also having celebrated his 65th birthday) the sailor and former aviator finally returned to Buckler’s Hard on September 17th the following year. He and Gipsy Moth IV had travelled a staggering 29,630 miles.

The return to Buckler’s Hard

Sir Francis Chichester and Gipsy Moth IV returned to Buckler’s Hard on 17th September 1967, his 66th birthday.

The aftermath

After her return, Gipsy Moth IV was preserved alongside Cutty Sark at Greenwich but, in need of restoration by the beginning of the century, was sold for £1 and a gin and tonic (Sir Francis Chichester’s favourite tipple) to the UK Sailing Academy in Cowes. Camper & Nicholson, her original boat builder in Gosport, carried out the £400,000 refit before a further drama-packed round-the-world voyage was undertaken for educational purposes.

Chichester was honoured on a postage stamp, which showed him aboard Gipsy Moth IV, and more recently Gipsy Moth IV has been featured in the British passport.

The Gipsy Moth IV records

• Fastest voyage around the world in a small vessel – almost twice as fast as the previous record
• First true solo circumnavigation of the world via the Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn
• Longest passage made by a small vessel without calling in to port – on the homeward leg from Sydney to Plymouth 15,250 miles
• Longest passage made by a solo sailor without calling in to port – on the homeward leg, almost twice as long as the previous record
• Longest distance covered by a solo sailor in a week – twice broke the record by more than 100 miles
• Fastest solo speed record for a long passage – twice broke the record, going from Plymouth to Sydney in 107 days at an average of 131 miles a day and from Sydney to Plymouth in 119 days at an average of 130 miles a day
• Set a solo record by travelling 1,400 miles in 8 days during the voyage

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SAILING A LEGEND

Sailing my childhood dream yacht – Gipsy Moth IV – was a fantasy come true, recalls Kevin Green.

The year is 1968 and my uncle and I watch the TV in the far north of Scotland – black and white images of a yacht surrounded by smaller boats making its way into harbour. The announcer is describing the arrival back in Britain of Francis Chichester after a record-breaking circumnavigation on his yacht Gipsy Moth IV – the first person to singlehandedly sail around the globe via Cape Horn.

It seemed unimaginable to me, as a small boy, what Chichester had done. Of course, Uncle Wullie had been around the globe several times as a merchant seaman, but the realisation that Chichester did it alone inspired me towards sailing from that moment on.

Chichester’s voyage had only one planned stop-over, a place called Sydney, somewhere I’d only vaguely heard of. While wrestling with the boat in Bass Strait he was annoyed to see a motorboat approaching his yawing yacht. On board was yachting journalist Lou d’Alpuget armed with whisky a hinged false panel. It swung open to give access to modern GPS and communications gear.

Opposite on starboard, the galley, with large stove, sink and saltwater pump and lots of sliding doors to hold victuals. Above, a forward-facing window which allowed Chichester to cook while keeping an eye ahead.

In the saloon, a large folding table and benches to seat six. I doubt Chichester spent much time lounging here given the rigours of solo sailing. Beside the table sat a robust paraffin heater – it provided comforting heat that helped sustain him rounding Cape Horn. All lockers had sturdy catches, crucial during her capsize back in 1967.

I could feel Chichester’s presence down here amid the scent of wood and oil because so much was original. When I grabbed some the handrails, I imagined him doing the same as she yawed and rolled her way across the empty wastes of the Southern Ocean – with the Blondie Hasler-inspired self-steering toiling to keep her on course.

Sailing this regal lady was not for the faint-hearted but our incentive to do well was strong, because we had to ‘race’ around the islands to arrive in time for the Whitehaven Beach Party, an event where the receding tide would expose wildlife of the homo sapiens variety, especially around the legendary XXXX beer tent.

Taking the yacht there under the formidable skipper Simon (“Get that sail hoisted, you spineless blaggards!!”) was like waking up in an episode of Hornblower. The crew laboured, Simon swore and the jokes came thick and fast as jovial irreverence, caused by a clash of Australian unfussiness, British naval tradition and Hahn beer.

Like the WWII Normandy landings, the Whitehaven beach assault was messy, with sun-induced burnt flesh everywhere and bikini-clad ladies cavorting wildly, some clenched in combat with those of the opposite sex. The threatened media soccer match against a rival magazine was settled over a XXXX instead.

Before long the retreat signal was given and we jumped aboard Gipsy Moth IV to manually wrestle the big anchor up (a ‘windlass’ sitting on the starboard side, midships, turned out to be a winch for controlling the twin running sails. Of course!).

Bowling home and powered up she twisted and slid down waves like a typical IOR snake, while a race of contrasts took place with the 98-foot Skandia supermaxi. As they came alongside skipper Grant Wharington got all hands on deck to give us a salute and three cheers. Stirring stuff – and overhead the RAAF Roulettes aerobatic team buzzed past in tight formation with a faint tipping of their wings. Not a bad day at Hammo, overall.

In 1965 Chichester commissioned Gosport-based shipyard Camper and Nicholsons to build the boat, designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose. Launched in March 1966, Gipsy Moth IV was 53ft (16m) overall with long overhangs giving a modest waterline length of 38ft 6 in (11.73 m). The hull was built in cold-moulded Honduras mahogany.

The scheduled displacement (to meet Chichester’s maximum weight requirements) was 10.4 tons, but after trials a ton of ballast was added to cope with her insufficient righting moment. Ketch-rigged, she has a sail area of 79.3m2, extendible with a spinnaker to over 140m2 Illingworth designed her to have the maximum amount of sail for the minimum amount of rigging. He employed tillerbased self-steering using ideas from Blondie Hasler’s famous Folkboat that allowed steerage from the skipper’s bunk, essential for lengthy solo voyages.

1966 CIRCUMNAVIGATION

Gipsy Moth IV set out from Plymouth on 27 August, 1966 with 64-year-old Chichester at the helm. The voyage was eventful, and Chichester recalled one particular moment when it nearly ended. Part of the frame holding the wind vane self-steering failed, 2,300 miles from Sydney. Not wanting to put in at Fremantle, he spent three days balancing sails and experimenting with shock-cord lines on the tiller, eventually getting the boat to hold a course and cover 160 miles a day.

When an exhausted Chichester entered Sydney Harbour for a stopover 107 days later, he enlisted the help of America’s Cup designer Warwick Hood. He added a piece to the boat’s keel, extending its base to hang below the keel-hung rudder. This was intended to provide Gipsy Moth IV with better directional stability, but the modification wasn’t a success.

This gave the Englishman plenty to consider given that they were only halfway round the world and the toughest test was yet to come – Cape Horn. As he recalled afterwards: “The boat was too big for me. She is cantankerous and difficult and needs a crew of three – a man to navigate, an elephant to move the tiller and a 3’6” chimpanzee with arms 8’ long to get about below and work some of the gear,” he said. On the home leg near Cape Horn the yacht rolled in a 140° capsize, but fortunately self-righted.

In his book, The Circumnavigators, Don Holm describes Gipsy Moth IV as “perhaps one of the worst racing yachts ever built.” The boat was too big and too demanding for the 64-year-old skipper. At the end of the arduous circumnavigation, asked why he did it, Chichester replied: “Because it intensifies life.”

Among the records that Chichester achieved during that ninemonth voyage was beating the average time (230 days) taken by a fully-crewed Clipper ship: Chichester did it in 226 days.

On his return in May 1967, thousands lined the shores of Plymouth Hoe to welcome him. Chichester became an national hero, including to small boys like your writer who had nautical aspirations. He was invited to Buckingham Palace where the Queen knighted him, using the same sword that gave that honour to adventurer Sir Francis Drake; the first Englishman to complete a circumnavigation with his crew.

Chichester then unceremoniously dumped the yacht to have his final vessel built, Gipsy Moth V, stating that version IV had no sentimental value for him at all. The yacht lay rotting while Chichester again sailed transatlantic voyages in pursuit of records.

But by then his body was failing and he was airlifted from his last voyage, with son Chiles going aboard to bring the new a yacht home. Shortly afterwards he lost his long battle with cancer and died in 1972. He had two children with wife Sheila, and eldest son Chiles went on to sail solo in his illustrious father’s wake.

RESTORATION

A campaign launched in 2003 by journalist Paul Gelder led to the Gipsy Moth IV’s restoration. The affable editor of Yachting Monthly, Paul Gelder and I have been on some memorable assignments together which included being presented to Princess Anne in 2006 in Sydney. “But you’re not Australian!” she accusingly laughed at me. As patron of Scottish Rugby and various other northern tribes she knew me for what I was.

As for Gelder, I greatly valued his camaraderie and his wit. A newspaperman turned magazine writer, he’d done the media hard-yards before helming Yachting Monthly. Very sadly, Paul died in 2019 from cancer, aged 71, but he left a fantastic legacy in the shape of the restored Gipsy Moth IV.

Early in the campaign Gelder met the head of the UKSA, entrepreneur and sailor David Green, who got the organisation to take over the boat restoration. She was taken by road to her original builder Camper & Nicholson, in Gosport, with the company doing the £300,000 project at cost price. A lot of the money came from the general public.

The B&G navigation equipment was replaced with new electronics but the original devices were retained on a covering panel to maintain the 1966 feel. Gelder recounted the restoration story in his book, Gipsy Moth IV: A Legend Sails Again.

The restored yacht was launched in June 2005 – the date coincided with the 40th anniversary of Chichester’s epic voyage and by September she departed for a 21-month educational round-the-world voyage. The first part was with the Blue Water Round the World Rally, via the trade wind route and the Panama Canal (not via the Capes).

WRECKED ON THE DANGEROUS ARCHIPELAGO

After Panama and heading across the Pacific in 2006 she ran aground on a low-lying atoll in the Tuamotus – not for nothing are they known as the ‘Dangerous Archipelago’. On board was a crew of youths from a charity organisation, led by 32-year-old skipper Antonia Nicholson and 24-year-old first mate Chris Bruce. The yacht had wandered off course in the worst place possible.

The yacht was swept up by a large wave and thrown across the reef at Rangiroa. After a Mayday and subsequent quick action by the UKSA charity, she was successfully salvaged by the Dutch company Smit.

Among the rescuers was the man who’d first come to the rescue of rotting yacht years earlier – Paul Gelder.

After fitting plywood patches on the hull and towing her across the reef to deep water, the yacht was saved. There followed a second extensive restoration in Auckland by the NZ America’s Cup Team – led by Grant Dalton – who donated premises and help in the Viaduct Harbour, allowing the yacht to be relaunched in June 2006.

That was just in time to reach Hamilton Island Race Week and meet with this writer, who was careful to avoid all reefs while at her helm. Soon after she departed west to complete her circumnavigation via the Suez Canal. After being accompanied into Plymouth by a flotilla, Gipsy Moth IV docked at West Hoe Pier on 28 May 2007, just as she’d done exactly 40 years earlier, to complete her second journey round the world.

THE FINAL CHAPTER

Owners UKSA eventually sold the yacht in 2010 for $250,000 after finding her unsuitable for training and the maintenance costs too high. After a campaign to keep the yacht in British waters, she was bought by entrepreneurs Eileen Skinner and business partner Rob Thompson who then handed her to a new charity, The Gipsy Moth Trust.

The yacht’s costs are funded by paying passengers and crew, and by donations to the Trust. She often returns to Chichester’s locale, Bucklers Hard on the snaking Beaulieu River, a legendary pier on the Solent that many sailors cherish, including this writer many decades ago doing his junior skipper’s ticket with a head full of Gipsy Moth dreams.

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2024 Opportunity Knocks

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• THE GREAT RACE – 1966
• THE KNIGHTHOOD
• FAMOUS QUOTES
• ROUND BRITAIN – 2024
• THE THIRD CIRCUMNAVIGATION
• SOLO DOCKER
• GIPSY MOTH SAILORS LISTING
• GIPSY MOTH VISITORS BOOK

THE SAILING LEGEND

• INNOVATIONS
• THE GUEST BOOK

GIPSY MOTH IV

THE LIFE OF THE FIRST OCEAN RACER

A dozen FACTS about Gipsy Moth IV.

DID YOU KNOW THAT GIPSY MOTH IV …

• is the first sailing boat to be raced solo around the world in 1966/67?
• was sailed by Sir Francis Chichester who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for this first ever solo-round the world voyage?
• despite Gipsy Moth IV’s small size of 53 feet, she beat the times of the great tea clippers like the Cutty Sark?
• was designed by Illingworth and Primrose and is the first ever specifically designed round-the-world ocean racer?
• is a very light composite yacht made of Honduran mahogany and epoxy weighing 13 tons?
• was visited by more than 1 million people by 1977?
• has been either visited, inspected or sailed by the British royals on 5 official occasions?
• was out of the water on display at the British National Maritime Museum as Greenwich, London for 37 years?
• has a song written over her by the band DIRE STRAITS (“Single-handed sailor”)?
• has been restored twice to sailing condition in 2005 and 2022 and cumulatively more than 2 million pounds have been spent on her?
• was run aground on a reef, during her second circumnavigation in the South Pacific in 2006 and she was repaired by the Emirates America’s Cup Team New Zealand in Auckland?
• is the origin of ocean racing – and has inspired more than 45 round-the-world ocean races since her first voyage ?

© 2024 Gipsy Moth IV

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Illingworth & Primrose/ Camper & Nicholsons 53 ft Bermudan Ketch 1966/2005 - Sold

GIPSY MOTH IV

Illingworth & primrose/ camper & nicholsons 53 ft bermudan ketch 1966/2005.

These details are provisional and may be amended

BROKER'S COMMENTS

It is hard to think of a yacht better known beyond the wider yachting community than GIPSY MOTH IV, and that has continued to inspire generations of young sailors more than fifty years after Sir Francis Chichester’s epic - then unimaginable - 1966-1967 single-handed, one-stop voyage around the world with her. Rescued in 2004 from 37 years out of her element, and rebuilt and restored in 2005 by her original builders - among the last wooden boat works performed by Camper & Nicholsons - GIPSY MOTH IV has subsequently circumnavigated again in the ownership of a trust. Now it's time to pass on this iconic and beautiful yacht to a similar body or individual to spread or be inspired by Chichester’s spirit of challenge and adventure.

RESTORATION/ REFIT

2020 - Masts completely overhauled by Allspars, Hamble - New Chain Plates fitted by Hamble Yacht Services 2006 - Hull repairs at Auckland, New Zealand by Brin Wilson Boat Builders at Team NZ 2004-2005 - Fully restored by Camper & Nicholsons to original condition - Including new, laminated longitudinal structure and associated work - Much new and refurbished Lewmar deck hardware - All new B&G navigational instruments - New sails

CAMPER & NICHOLSONS YARD No. 916 On the completion at Plymouth on 28 May 1967 of their solo circumnavigation witnessed by a crowd estimated at over 250,000, Francis (soon to be Sir Francis) Chichester and GIPSY MOTH IV became two of the most famous names in the United Kingdom and further afield, and GIPSY MOTH IV, having served her purpose, was placed on display at Greenwich, London, beside another UK maritime icon, the tea clipper CUTTY SARK. In some respects it was appropriate: Chichester's personal challenge had been to beat the times of the clipper ships in a vessel of five times less waterline length. But in reality it was the worst thing that could happen to a living, breathing, wooden yacht. As the late Paul Gelder, then Editor of Yachting Monthly magazine and co-ordinator of the successful early 2000s campaign to rescue her from this fate, wrote in his book 'GIPSY MOTH IV - A legend sails again': "Boats like GIPSY MOTH [IV] belong in the ocean... They are meant to be sailed, not entombed or exhibited in museums. A wooden boat is a living entity, imbued with the spirit of those who built and sailed them." GIPSY MOTH IV was designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose - then one of the leading UK performance yacht design offices - and built by Camper & Nicholsons at Gosport in 1966 specifically for Francis Chichester to complete the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe. Succeeding in this was always going to be epic - at the time unimaginable. Not long after leaving Portsmouth in August 1966, Chichester came of pension age (65) and was a cancer survivor. The list of achievements of man and boat is long (from Paul Gelder's book): - Fastest voyage around the world by any small vessel - approximately twice as fast - Longest passage made by a small vessel without a port of call - 15,500 miles - More than 2 x the distance of previous longest singlehander who'd sailed 7,400 miles - 2 x broke the record for a singlehander's week's run by more than 100 miles - Set a singlehanded record by sailing 1,400 miles from point to point in 8 days - 2 x exceeded the singlehanded speed record for a long passage - 131.75 miles per day for 107 days, and 130.25 miles per day for 119 days - Third true circumnavigation by a small vessel via Cape Horn Paul Gelder's rescue campaign succeeded. She was purchased in 2004 for £1 and a gin-and-tonic (Chichester's favourite drink) from the Greenwich Maritime Trust, and in June 2005 GIPSY MOTH IV emerged from a major and honourable rebuild by her original builders with some veterans of the 1966 build having volunteered their assistance. The money had been raised by crowdfunding with donations in kind from the marine industry, including companies like Lewmar and B&G who had supplied some of her original equipment. GIPSY MOTH IV then commenced her second circumnavigation over almost two years, returning to Plymouth exactly 40 years after Chichester had, on 28th May 2007. In 2010 ownership transferred to the Gipsy Moth Trust in order to keep her in sailing condition, keep her visible to the public by allowing as many people as possible to sail or visit her, and to use Chichester’s legacy of challenge to inspire a new generation of sailors and adventurers. GIPSY MOTH IV is listed on the UK National Historic Ships register, and such has been the longevity of her fame that she is pictured in the current UK EU passport. ©2022 Iain McAllister/ Sandeman Yacht Company Ltd

CONSTRUCTION

- Cold moulded 6 x layers Honduras mahogany hull - Fibreglass outer skin - Laminated one piece hardwood backbone - Steamed timbers - Laminated hardwood floors - Fibreglassed plywood deck

DECK LAYOUT, EQUIPMENT AND GROUND TACKLE

- Flush deck with deep cockpit and 'blister' deckhouse - Tiller steered - 4 x Large storage lazarettes - Mix of original, in-period and modern Lewmar deck fittings - 2 x Modern Lewmar hatches over saloon - Electric anchor/ warp trailing windlass - Danforth anchor

ACCOMMODATION AND DOMESTIC EQUIPMENT

- Down 4 x steps over engine box to accommodation - 'Treadmaster'-covered cabin sole throughout - Individual bunk spot lights (LED) - Red/White lighting throughout (LED) LARGE SERVICE AREA AFT - Quarter berth immediately to port with instrument repeaters - Adjacent stowage bin - Galley immediately to starboard - Work surface and inset stainless steel sink bowl - Stowage under, and over outboard - Fresh and salt water taps - Interchangeable (original) paraffin stove - Or new gas, LP Tasman 4500 - 2 burner hob & grill - Stowage under - WC Compartment to port - Original Baby Blake sea toilet - Large chart table and navigation area to port - Original / period B&G Instruments - Lift up panel with Marconi Kestrel radio telephone - Revealing modern B&G Instruments - Red/White chart light - Further work surface to starboard - Original paraffin heater to starboard with flue running aft FWD VIA SEMI BULKHEAD TO SALOON - Settees port and starboard with pilot berths outboard - Stowage under pilot berths accessed from back settee backrests - Shelves outboard - Drop leaf saloon table - Sideboard fwd port FWD VIA OFFET PORT KEYHOLE BULKHEAD DOOR TO LARGE WC COMPARTMENT - Vanity unit to port with inset sink; whale manual water pump - Stowage under and outboard - WC to starboard - Hanging locker; lifejacket stowage FWD TO FORECABIN/ FOREPEAK - Slatted sail bin and shelving to port - Berth to starboard - Forehatch in deckhead

RIG, SAILS AND CANVASWORK

RIG - Cutter-rigged bermudan ketch - Original Proctor Masts - Most recently overhauled and refurbished by Allspars, Hamble (2020) SAILS - 2 x complete suits of sails by Crusader Sails - Current suit is brand new and unused - Mizzen x 2 - Mainsail x 2 - Staysail x 2 - Yankee #1 x 2 - Yankee #2 x 2 - Yankee #3 x 2 - Storm Staysail x 1 - Storm Main x 1 - Spinnaker x 2 CANVASWORK - Sprayhood over cockpit (2019) - Dodgers with vessel name (2019) - Sail Covers with vessel name (2019) -

MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL AND TANKAGE

MECHANICAL - Yanmar 4JH4 40HP diesel engine ELECTRICAL - House and engine batteries with isolator - 12 V and 240 V (Shore power) systems - 2 x 12v sockets - 4 x USB charging sockets TANKAGE 3 x Water Tanks - Aft Water - 54 L - Mid Water - 62 L - Forward Water - 82 L 2 x Diesel Tanks - Aft Fuel – 140 L - Forward Fuel – 155 L Waste - Grey Water Tank - Black Water Tank

NAVIGATION, ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATIONS

All new fitted 2020 and unused B & G equipment throughout - V60 Fixed mount VHF and wireless handset - Hydra 5000 Chartplotter - Zeus 3 Chartplotter - Back up independent GPS display unit - WS310 Wind sensor - NSPL 500 AIS/VHF antenna splitter - Halo 30 Dome radar (mast mounted) - Wind, speed and depth instruments with repeaters above skipper’s bunk

- 2 x RFD Seasava Pro-ISO 6 man liferafts - Inflatable Jonbuoy - 2 x Horseshoe life rings with light and drogue - MOB recovery sling - Floating throw line - 6 x Spinlock deckvest lifejackets (with personal Ocean Signal RescueMe MOB transmitters) - 10 x safety Harness - Jackstays full deck length port and starboard - Climbing harness and helmet - 6 x sets Henri Lloyd foul weather gear (good condition) in medium large and extra large - Grab bag and distress flares (4 Red parachute, 6 Red Handheld and 2 Orange Smoke) - Engine bay automatic fire extinguisher system - Fire extinguishers in all cabins and deck lazarette - Jabsco 23920 Run Dry Puppy Bilge pump - Gas and fire certified 2020 - Commercially coded until Mar 2021

OTHER EQUIPMENT

- Tender - 4HP Yamaha outboard motor (3-years-old; regularly serviced) - Oars, bailer, anchor and 25 L separate fuel tank

IMAGE CREDITS

- Sailing images where noted: Theo Stocker/ Yachting Monthly - Other sailing: Gipsy Moth Trust

These particulars have been prepared from information provided by the vendors and are intended as a general guide. The purchaser should confirm details of concern to them by survey or engineers inspection. The purchaser should also ensure that the purchase contract properly reflects their concerns and specifies details on which they wish to rely.

Sandeman Yacht Company

Brokerage of classic & vintage yachts.

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Gipsy Moth IV at Earl Court

• July 4, 2007

Whyte and Mackay Earls Court Boat Show organisers announce Gipsy Moth IV as central feature 4/7/07

Whyte and Mackay Earls Court Boat Show organisers have announced sponsorship of Gipsy Moth IV as a feature attraction of the show in December.

The historic yacht will be a central attraction within Earls Court for the duration of the nine-day event (1-9 December), enabling all visitors to see one of Britain’s great sailing treasures first-hand.

Gipsy Moth IV was commissioned by Sir Francis Chichester to sail single-handedly around the world in an attempt to beat the times set by clipper ships in the 19th Century. The yacht made history sailing around the globe in 1966-67 in 274 days. She was then displayed in Greenwich for many years before she underwent total restoration in 2003. A group led by Yachting Monthly’s Editor Paul Gelder, restored the yacht in order to make a second historic sail around the globe to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original conquest. She completed her second trip around the world and docked in Plymouth on the 28 May 2007, just as she did exactly 40 years before.

James Brooke, Managing Director, Whyte & Mackay Earls Court Boat Show commented: “We could not be more pleased to announce that a yacht with the history and stature of Gipsy Moth IV will be featured in the Olympic Pool during our show. I am excited for the opportunity our visitors will have to see and interact with a timeless British icon. We are sponsoring this yacht’s presence as a commitment to our visitors to provide interaction on new and historic boats they would not normally have the chance to experience. This is also a way for us to take the boat show out of Earls Court and into the community by offering a wider audience the chance to go sailing on such a treasure.”

Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Gipsy Moth IV

Yachting Monthly tribute to Gipsy Moth IV

Gipsy Moth IV Gallery

• April 30, 2008

Pictures of Gipsy Moth IV on her travels

The 40th anniversary proposal

• April 15, 2008

Gipsy Moth IV made her historic passage from Plymouth to Plymouth in 1966-7 via the three capes: the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn.

Rescued from a concrete tomb

The plan to rescue and restore Gipsy Moth IV and sail her around the globe a second time was hatched in a wine bar in December 2002

Man and boat

Sir Francis Chichester and the yacht that he sailed around the world.

The original voyage

One of the most unforgettable pictures in the history of small boat passage-making is Gipsy Moth IV rounding Cape Horn

Assist the bid to take Gipsy Moth IV around the world again

Promotional article

• April 8, 2008

This area can be used to promote anything from the website. NB not applicable to Boats for Sale, Company Dir.

Ellen MacArthur welcomes Gipsy Moth home

• June 4, 2007

MacArthur joins ketch as she sails into her new home port of Cowes

Flares, fancy dress and Fab Beatles welcome historic ketch home

• May 21, 2007

Don't miss our guide to what's on and where in Plymouth this Bank Holiday Monday

Chichester’s homecoming celebrations

• May 18, 2007

Amazing original footage of Chichester's return to Plymouth and itinerary of next Monday's celebrations

Historic vessel Gipsy Moth IV features on new British passport

Historic yacht Gipsy Moth IV, in which Sir Francis Chichester completed his historic circumnavigation in 1967, will feature on the new UK passport launched yesterday by immigration minister James Brokenshire to celebrate British cultural heritage.

She will feature alongside the likes of William Shakespeare and modern day architect Anish Kapoor, as well as striking British creations including the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Battersea Power Station and the Titanic Belfast building, among other designs.

Gipsy Moth IV set a series of records during Sir Francis Chichester’s voyage, including the fastest round-the-world voyage by a small vessel, the longest non-stop passage by a small vessel, and the then longest single-handed passage. The vessel was restored by the UK Sailing Academy in 2005 and was bought by business partners Eileen Skinner and Rob Thompson in 2010 to keep it in the UK.  Gipsy Moth IV is now owned by a charitable trust, the Gipsy Moth Trust, created to preserve her in sailing condition and promote charitable activities.

Eileen Skinner, Founder Trustee of the Gipsy Moth Trust, said:

“We are absolutely delighted that Gipsy Moth IV is featuring on the new UK passport. She is a key part of the UK’s national maritime heritage and, after almost losing her to a foreign buyer not long ago, we’re over the moon that she will now always, in a way, remain a fundamental part of our nation.

“Sir Francis Chichester is one of the most iconic figures in sailing history and our aim is to keep his legacy very much alive for future generations. We do hope this encourages and inspires people across the UK to visit her, sail her, and experience life aboard an essential part of maritime history”

Gipsy Moth IV is also available for private sailing experiences, the proceeds of which go towards her upkeep and maintenance. To book a charter experience please contact [email protected] .

The Whitehouse Consultancy is proud to have sponsored the Gipsy Moth Trust for the past three years.

www.gipsymoth.org