BOOK REVIEW
THE STRANGE LAST VOYAGE OF DONALD CROWHURST NICHOLAS TOMALIN AND RON HALL (STEIN & DAY)
An adventure gone terribly wrong BILL MACPHERSON You might be a bit hard-pressed
to find this meticulously researched account of what Sir Francis Chichester (the first man to sail around the world singlehandedly) called “the sea drama of the century.” If you’ve got a good used bookstore with a decent nautical section in it nearby, search it out, because it is an engrossing, compelling read from start to finish. Or just go to Amazon. Tomalin and Hall are two
British journalists who have pieced together the mystery of solo circumnavigator Donald Crowhurst and his participation in the 1968 Golden Globe race around the world, singlehandedly and non-stop. Chichester had solo
circumnavigated the year before, arriving back in England a national hero. He had made a stop, though,
laying up in Australia for repairs and replenishment of supplies prior to tackling the Southern Ocean. It was his success that prompted
the Sunday Times to sponsor another solo circumnavigation race, this time without any stops. Competitors could leave from
any port in England or France as long as they did so between June 1 and October 31. There was a considerable prize for the first sailor around the world, and also one for the fastest cumulative sailing time. Crowhurst was a headstrong man,
a tinkerer and modestly successful inventor of a nautical navigational device. He was also an admirer of Chichester and, in the face of a business that was failing through his own faults, confident that his electronic expertise could win him the fame and fortune he needed, both personally and for his business. A decent weekend sailor, he was completely out of his element given
the mental and physical challenges he would face on the ocean. Buoyed by a financial backer
(who, as the launch turned into a fiasco of last minute frantic preparation, insisted Crowhurst mortgage his house as collateral), a clever public relations man, and his own inflated self-importance and need to be a hero, he set out at the last possible minute, leaving his wife and four children for nine months alone against the sea. It was a costly decision. The race he hoped to win took
place more than 40 years ago, long before satellites, global positioning systems, wireless communications, the internet and so many other technological advances that have now enabled teenagers to circumnavigate solo. Then, it truly was one man against the sea, with
40 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
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