Sir Robin Knox-Johnston #2 // Talking Sailing With the OG Himself

In Gosport, Hampshire, on the historic waters of Portsmouth Harbour, offshore passagemakers Andy Schell and August of 59° North Sailing convened with maritime legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston at the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race headquarters. Ten years after their initial recorded dialogue, this return visit offered an unvarnished examination of ocean seamanship, naval discipline, and the enduring reality of high-latitude voyaging.

At 87 years of age, Knox-Johnston remains actively engaged in deep-sea passages. Rather than treating his storied past as archival history, the interview segued directly from Clipper Race operations to the Gosport marina pontoon where his iconic 32-foot double-ended ketch, Suhaili, was berthed in full operational commission after a passage to Cherbourg, France. Sitting inside the timber-planked cabin, the conversation spanned six decades of blue-water endurance.

The Cabin of Suhaili and the 1968 Knockdown Penny

Stepping aboard Suhaili reveals a working voyaging craft rather than a sanitized museum exhibit. Foul weather gear hangs drying in the companionway, practical mechanic’s toolboxes sit beside sea berths, and a galley bottle remains ready for sea. Wedged tightly between a transverse deck beam and the overhead carvel planking sits a British copper penny—lodged into the timber during a violent knockdown in the Roaring Forties during the 1968–1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. Knox-Johnston has preserved the coin in situ for more than fifty-seven years, issuing strict orders to boatyard shipwrights never to paint over or dislodge the artifact.

As the first person to complete a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation, Knox-Johnston reflected on his correspondence with French solo voyager Bernard Moitessier aboard Joshua. The two skippers exchanged letters prior to the race, grounded in mutual professional respect during an era when self-reliance and sextant navigation dictated ocean survival without satellite communications or emergency beacons.

Seamen Versus Yachtsmen: The Merchant Navy Standard

When asked to analyze the divide between competitive racing and traditional maritime practice, Knox-Johnston rejected the notion that seamanship and speed are incompatible, asserting instead that they fundamentally converge. His foundational perspective derives from his career in the British Merchant Navy with the British India Steam Navigation Company. Operating heavy commercial tonnage instilled rigorous standards of organizational discipline, watchstanding vigilance, and mechanical redundancy that amateur yachting frequently overlooks.

Prior to departing Falmouth in 1968, Knox-Johnston anticipated potential structural failures and fabricated contingency solutions: stepping a lighter mizzen spar that could be hoisted as an emergency mainmast if dismasted, packing heavy sail canvas and oakum to fother underwater hull leaks, carrying through-bolts to re-secure the trunk cabin if sheared by breaking seas, and provisioning 330 days of stores for an anticipated 300-day passage. While contemporary media branded him an outsider, maritime trade journals recognized him as a thoroughly prepared professional mariner whose commercial training made him the ultimate dark horse.

Founding the Clipper Race and Crew Safety Doctrine

Knox-Johnston established the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in 1995 to introduce non-professional crews to circumnavigation. With more than 7,000 amateur sailors having since crossed oceans aboard the fleet of purpose-built Tony Castro and naval architect-designed ocean racers, the operational curriculum prioritizes four weeks of mandatory, uncompromising training centered entirely on safety over raw tactical speed.

Drawing pedagogical inspiration from Captain Bob Phelan aboard the United States Coast Guard Barque Eagle, Knox-Johnston structured the syllabus around perpetual deck awareness—reading wind shifts, tracking running rigging friction, monitoring companionway hatches, and mastering emergency knots before entering heavy weather. Clipper skippers are selected through rigorous vetting, ensuring command authority remains firm while fostering crew competence across Pacific and Southern Ocean crossings.

Expedition Specifications and Seamanship Doctrine

The comparative timeline and naval architecture specifications between Knox-Johnston’s historical ocean voyaging and the contemporary 59° North expedition program illustrate how commercial seamanship informs offshore training:

High-Latitude Exploration in East Greenland

In addition to circumnavigations, Knox-Johnston shared his experiences leading six expeditions to the uncharted fjords of East Greenland and Spitsbergen. Navigating poorly surveyed arctic coastlines, dodging multi-year pack ice, and anchoring alongside Inuit hunting communities required heightened radar watchkeeping and anchoring prudence. Knox-Johnston noted that true exploration does not require being the first human to sight a coastline, but rather confronting pristine wilderness with absolute self-sufficiency and deep respect for polar environments.

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