Last Voyages

I would never have written this book, nor met many of the people featured, had my friend David Dillistone not introduced me to the somewhat dubious joys of racing his fragile and uncomfortable trimaran Heretic around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. This started my interest in the world of multihulls and in short-handed long-distance racing. Thank you, David.

Thanks must also go for the support I have had from all the people with whom I have sailed over the years, most importantly Peter Phillips, Julian Mustoe, Roger Hill and Don Wood.

I would also like to acknowledge the help and support I have had from Chris Waddington of Wicormarine, who kindly allowed me to clutter up his foreshore with a number of trimarans whilst they were in preparation for various voyages. Also many thanks for the invaluable advice I have received over the years from those knowledgeable gurus of all things ‘maritime’, Bob Brinton and Steve Parish.

I have had much assistance from author Clare Allcard (who gave me lots of encouragement and wise counsel in completing this my first book), from Edward Allcard, Denis Lochen of the Association Eric Tabarly, Jacqueline Tabarly, Susie Walwyn and her partner John Halsey, Kate Walwyn, Jill Blancaneaux, Christina Pasquinucci, Guy Pendred, Colonel Tim Street (for information on 6 Metre yachts), Dan Primrose, Bob Comlay (for information on Bill Tilman and En Avant), John Lewis (Royal Western Yacht Club), Lester and Henrietta Barnes, Eve Lytton and Robert Bennett.

I would like to thank the publishers and authors of the books shown in bold in the bibliography which I have used as source material.

If any acknowledgements due to other authors and publishers have been inadvertently omitted I hope they will accept my apologies.

My thanks to everyone at Fernhurst Books and especially to Jeremy Atkins for being brave enough to take me on.

Finally, thank you to Josephine for everything (especially for putting up with my strange sailing exploits over the years).

Acknowledgement is gratefully made to the following publishers, authors, photographers and family members for permission to use material and photographs as follows:

Chapter 1: Frank & Ann Davison

Cover of Last Voyage by Ann Davison, published by William Heinemann.

Photo of Reliance: By kind permission of Weymouth Museum Trust.

Chapter 2: Donald Crowhurst

Photo of Donald Crowhurst: © Keystone Pictures USA / Alamy.

Photo of Teignmouth Electron: © geogphotos / Alamy

Chapter 3: Mike McMullen

Extracts from Multihull Seamanship: © Michael McMullen, 1976, Multihull Seamanship, Adlard Coles Nautical, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. By kind permission of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Photos of Mike McMullen on board Three Cheers: © Ajax News & Feature Service / Alamy.

Chapter 4: Simon Richardson & Bill Tilman

Photos of En Avant & crew: taken by Sandy Lee, © the estate of W G Lee. By kind permission of Barbara Waite and Robert Lee.

Chapter 5: Alain Colas

Photo of Alain Colas: © Ajax News & Feature Service / Alamy.

Photo of Manureva: © Ajax News & Feature Service / Alamy.

Extracts from The Atlantic Challenge: © David Palmer, 1977, The Atlantic Challenge, Hollis & Carter. By kind permission of David Palmer.

Chapter 6: Richard Pendred

Photos of Richard Pendred and Bucks Fizz: By kind permission of Guy Pendred and the Pendred family archive.

Chapter 7: Angus Primrose

Photo of Angus Primrose and Blondie Hasler: © Ajax News & Feature Service / Alamy.

Photo of Moody 33: By kind permission of David Moody.

Chapter 8: Rob James

Chapter 9: Peter & Thomas Tangvald

Extract and photos from At Any Cost: © Peter Tangvald, 1991, At Any Cost, Cruising Guide Publications. By kind permission of Christina Pasquinucci and Cruising Guide Publications.

Chapter 10: Eric Tabarly

Photos of Pen Duick: By kind permission of Denis Lochen of the Association of Eric Tabarly.

Chapter 11: Philip Walwyn

Photos of Philip and Kate: From the Walwyn family archive. By kind permission of Kate Walwyn, Susie Walwyn and John Halsey.

About the Author

Photo of Nicholas Gray as a boy: From the author’s family archive.

Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the extracts and photographs used in this book. If any errors or omissions have inadvertently been made, they will be rectified in future editions provided that written notification is made to the publishers.