Francis Chichester 50th anniversary of solo circumnavigation

by PPL on 30 Aug 2016

The Mayoress of Plymouth cutting the ribbon on a new bronze plaque to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Sir Francis Chichester's pioneering voyage back in 1966/67 to beat the best clipper ship times to Australia and back. Barry Pickthall / PPL

The UK remembered one of its pioneering sea heroes last weekend by marking the 50th anniversary of Sir Francis Chichester's departure from Plymouth at the start of his solo one-stop circumnavigation to Australia and back. The Mayoress of Plymouth unveiled a bronze plaque on the Hoe to replace the one swept away on the harbour wall during a winter storm in 2014, and the Royal Western Yacht Club re-enacted the start, firing a canon for Chichester's famous yacht GIPSY MOTH IV stationed just off the Hoe.

The Royal Western Yacht Club re enacted the start from the harbour wall, with GIPSY MOTH IV stationed offshore. © Barry Pickthall / PPL

Sir Francis Chichester set out from Plymouth on 27th August 1966 to beat the best times set by the clipper ships a century before to Sydney Australia and back. He took 274 days to complete the one-stop circumnavigation, (226 days sailing) and returned on May 28, 1967.

Giles Chichester, the son of Sir Francis Chichester with the bronze plaque commemorating Sir Francis Chichester's pioneering solo circumnavigation. © Barry Pickthall / PPL

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who capped Chichester's feat in 1969 by becoming the first to sail solo non-stop around the world, by winning The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1969, emphasised the magnitude of Chichester’s feat, saying: 'While others including the American Joshua Slocum and Vito Dumas from Argentina had completed solo circumnavigations before, none had gone via the five Great Capes, (Good Hope, Leeuwin, Australia’s South East Cape, New Zealand’s South West Cape, and most infamous of all, Cape Horn). “Chichester was the first to achieve this in a small yacht (GIPSY MOTH IV) with just one stop. He was a real pioneer and his experiences paved the way for me to become the first to complete a solo non-stop circumnavigation.”

The new bronze plaque commemorating Sir Francis Chichester's pioneering solo circumnavigation set in the wall of the Waterfront Restaurant to replace the one washed away during a winter storm in 2014. © Barry Pickthall / PPL

Plymouth City Council plan to mark the 50th anniversary of Chichester's return on May 28 next year, the day before the start of the 2017 OSTAR singlehanded transatlantic race - an event first won by Chichester back in 1960.

PPL Photo Agency, holds the Francis Chichester Archive, which not only covers the great man's solo circumnavigation and pioneering transatlantic endeavours, but also his solo flight to Australia and New Zealand in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth biplane in 1930.