Gipsy Moth — the early years
In 1938, an auxiliary Bermudian sloop, designed by William Maxwell Blake, was launched at Claude Whisstocks’ yard at Woodstock on the River Deben in Suffolk, England. It had been built for Mr Harry L Goodson, Secretary of the Aldeburgh Yacht Club, and named Florence Edith.
Length overall: 34 ft Rig: Sloop Sail: 540 sq ft Tonnage: 7 Registered: Ipswich
Lloyd’s Register of Yachts wasn’t published during WWII but, in 1946, recorded the owner as JS Alderton of Essex.
The Chichester years
The yacht came to the attention of Francis Chichester, an English aviator who had flown solo from England to Sydney, and across the Tasman Sea in a Gipsy Moth single-engined aircraft, but who was rejected as a pilot during WWII after failing an eyesight test. His excellent skills gained him a position writing instructional notes on navigation for the RAF. He later worked as a navigator on yachts, but by 1953 he was yearning for a boat of his own.
He found the now derelict Florence Edith near Brightlingsea on the Essex coast when he was still a novice sailor, bought it and renamed it Gipsy Moth II with fond memories of his flying days. He raced it for four seasons with mixed
success and in 1959 sold it to G McNeill-Moss, of London. Though it was registered in Ipswich, its home port was now Gosport, Hampshire, where a new Parsons engine was installed in 1961. From 1964–1971 the owner was Commander JL Wood of Hampshire, the last owner noted in the records.
Chichester had overseen the building of a new yacht, Gipsy Moth III, launched in 1960. Then in 1966 he took possession of Gipsy Moth IV, achieving fame— and a knighthood—after sailing this yacht single-handed around the world from Plymouth to Plymouth in 1966-1967 racing against the average time taken by the clipper ships on the Cape Horn route. Before rounding Cape Horn, the 65-year-old sailor called into Sydney, where he received an enthusiastic welcome. Here adjustments could be made to the yacht and, though busy, he could recover a little. When he left, hundreds of small craft escorted Gipsy Moth IV down the harbour to the Heads. in an exuberant send-off.
Chichester, master navigator, was also a beekeeper. He enjoyed the honey that they produced, and he admired the bees’ excellent navigating abilities.
When I was 11 years old I watched, with much interest, the arrival of Francis Chichester as he berthed in Sydney harbour during his round- the-world voyage on Gipsy Moth lV. I was totally fascinated by what he was doing and consequently informed my parents that when I was 21 years old I was going to leave Australia and head to the UK to purchase a sailing yacht of my own. The immediate response was ‘With what money will you be buying this yacht?’ ‘Well I need to do some type of investment,’
Further reading: Leslie, Anita (1975) Francis Chichester. Hutchinson: Hodder & Stoddart, London.
Chichester, Francis (1964) The lonely sea and the sky. Hodder & Stoddart, London.
was my answer. And sure enough, at the age of 15, I purchased a block of land in the outer suburbs of Melbourne and paid it off by doing an apprenticeship during the day and continuing my studies at night school for six years. As soon as I turned 21, I immediately sold the block of land and, with a handsome profit, headed to the UK in search of the yacht of my choice. My ideal was a wooden yacht, around 34 feet, with a cutter rig (inner self-tacking headsail).
I commenced my search in December 1977 in the north of Scotland, looking in marinas and at displays in yacht brokers’ windows for that ideal yacht. It wasn’t until I reached Port Falmouth in the SW corner of England that I found Gipsy Moth advertised by a local broker. The fact that it was the original Gipsy Moth previously owned by Sir Francis Chichester was a remarkable coincidence. I paid £9,500 for it and re-built the entire interior plus fitted
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