A VOYAGE FOR MADMEN ~ The1968 Golden Globe Race Around the World

A short documentary about one of the strangest, most disturbing sailing stories of all time, part high adventure, part mystery. It depicts the infamous 1968 Sunday Times’s Golden Globe Race, the fastest nonstop single-handed round-the-world race. Under conditions never before attempted, each lone sailor had to complete, single-handedly and non-stop, a circumnavigation of the globe, rounding each of the three great points (Cape Llewelyn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn) and to do so unaided. Going into port for repairs or supplies would mean disqualification. Out of the nine men who competed, one would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was failure, madness and death.

Capturing the terror and tragedy of the event in a powerful narrative full of windswept archival footage, this documentary gives the remarkable human story of the competitors, each of them driven by their own dreams and demons.Of the nine starters, four realised the craziness of the undertaking and pulled out within weeks.

One competitor became infamous - David Crowhurst fooled the world into believing he had voyaged for 240 days but had really hidden out to sea. He then vanished, an apparent suicide, just when people thought he was sailing home to England in triumph. Another yachtsman, a French mystic who wanted to commune with the universe; abandoned the race whilst in a strong position, carried on for another lap of the world and settled in Tahiti where he fathered a child despite having a wife and family in Paris. Another yachtsman was an epicurean who dined at his table for one on oysters and wine. Some were participants with almost no experience and no idea of what they were getting themselves into. Chay Blyth, fresh from rowing the Atlantic, had never sailed before. Nigel Tetley sank whilst in the lead and had to be rescued as his boat broke apart. He died in tragic circumstances two years later. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only one to complete the race.

The film is a haunting introduction to one of the legendary modern stories of men against the sea. In its cinematography and narration, t evokes the elemental nature of the adventure itself, in an era when sailors with crazy courage set out to cross oceans without satellite navigation, instant communications and electronic tracking. This film reminds us of an age of great adventure as we go about a prosaic existence in a jaded 21st century.

Видео A VOYAGE FOR MADMEN ~ The1968 Golden Globe Race Around the World канала Jay North