Gipsy Moth IV

After being nursed back to health from a suspected lung abscess by his wife, Chichester undertook two single-handed Transatlantic races from Plymouth to New York in 1960 and Plymouth to Newport in 1964 in Gipsy Moth III. He won the '60 race and was runner-up in the '64 race. During the '64 race he became inspired to challenge the times set by the tea and wool clipper ships. The tea clippers took an average of 123 days to make their passage to the East Indies, so Chichester set himself the target of making the passage in 100 days. He subsequently wrote his book Along the Clipper Way, which charts the voyage taken by 19th century wool clippers returning from Australia.

In 1965 Chichester commissioned Gosport-based ship yard Camper and Nicholsons to build the boat, designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose. Launched in March 1966 with yard number 916, Gypsy Moth IV is 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) on the waterline and 53 ft (16 m) overall, with a hull constructed of cold-moulded Honduras mahogany. The scheduled displacement (to follow Chichester's requirements of maximum weight) was 10.4 tons, after trials increased by 1 ton of added ballast to cope with insufficient righting moment.[1] Ketch rigged, she has a sail area of 854 sq ft (79.3 m²), extendable with a spinnaker to over 1,500 sq ft (140 m²). The boat incorporated the maximum amount of sail for the minimum amount of rigging, whilst employing tiller based self-steering using design principles established by Blondie Hasler that could enable steerage from the skipper's bunk, essential for solo sailing for a voyage of this length.

Gipsy Moth IV set out from Plymouth on 27 August 1966 with 64-year-old Sir Francis at the helm. The voyage was not uneventful, and Chichester later recalled three moments where he noted that the trip nearly ended. The first was when part of the frame holding the wind vane self-steering failed, when still 2,300 miles (3,700 km) from Sydney. Not wanting to put in at Fremantle, Western Australia, Chichester spent three days balancing sails and experimenting with shock-cord lines on the tiller, once again getting the boat to hold a course to enable her to cover 160 miles (260 km) a day.[2]

An exhausted Chichester entered Sydney harbour for a stopover 107 days later. He enlisted the help of America's Cup designer Warwick Hood, who added a piece to the boat's keel to provide Gipsy Moth IV with better directional stability to stop her broaching, but the modification did nothing to improve her stability.[2]

One day out on the return trip via Cape Horn, the boat was rolled in a 140-degree capsize. Chichester calculated the angle by measuring the mark on the cabin roof made by a wine bottle. He commented in his diary and in a later interview with Time magazine that he knew she would self-right as she was designed to, but was concerned by the incident as this was a light storm and he still had to pass Cape Horn, where the third and most significant event of the voyage would occur:

"The waves were tremendous. They varied each time, but all were like great sloping walls towering behind you. The kind I liked least was like a great bank of gray-green earth 50' (15 m) high and very steep. Image yourself at the bottom of one. My cockpit was filled five times and once it took more than 15 minutes to drain. My wind-reading machine stopped recording at 60 knots. My self-steering could not cope with the buffeting....I had a feeling of helplessness."[2]

Just as he thought all hope was lost and he was alone, on exiting the cockpit one day he was followed by the British Antarctic Survey vessel HMS Protector (A146), and later the same day a Royal Air Force plane broke through the clouds. On 28 May 1967 having logged 28,500 miles (45,900 km) in just 274 days (226 days actual sailing time), the voyage claimed the following records:

• Fastest voyage around the world by any small vessel
• Longest non stop passage that had been made by a small sailing vessel (15,000 miles (24,000 km))
• More than twice the distance of the previous longest passage by a singlehander
• Twice broke the record for a singlehander's week's run by more than 100 miles (160 km)
• Established a record for singlehanded speed by sailing 1,400 miles (2,300 km) in 8 days

Because of the boat lacking of directional stability (despite fin extension) and righting moment, Chichester commented:

"Now that I have finished, I don't know what will become of Gipsy Moth IV. I only own the stern while my cousin owns two thirds. My part, I would sell any day. It would be better if about a third were sawn off. The boat was too big for me. Gipsy Moth IV has no sentimental value for me at all. She is cantankerous and difficult and needs a crew of three - a man to navigate, an elephant to move the tiller and a 3'6" (1.1 m) chimpanzee with arms 8' (2.4 m) long to get about below and work some of the gear."[2]

In July 1968, Gipsy Moth IV was put on permanent display at Greenwich in a land-locked purpose-built dry dock next to the Cutty Sark. The yacht was open to the public for many years. In September 1977 a ceremony was held to mark her 1 millionth visitor on board.Eventually, due to general deterioration from allowing visitors to walk across her decks, Gipsy Moth was permanently closed to visitors, remaining on display at Greenwich next to the Cutty Sark. Her “entombment” at Greenwich was referred to in the song "Single Handed Sailor" by the band Dire Straits. Chichester died at the age of 71 on 26 August 1972.

After 37 years (in 2005) she was freed and relaunched.

By the early 2000s, the condition of Gipsy Moth IV, even though she continued to rest in a Greenwich dry dock hoist, had seriously deteriorated. In 2003, Paul Gelder, editor of the London-based sailing magazine Yachting Monthly, launched a campaign to restore the yacht and sail her around the world in 2006 on the 40th anniversary of Chichester's voyage, and the 100th birthday of the magazine. He enlisted the support of The Blue Water Round the World Rally, a club-style cruising rally that the magazine had been covering since 1995.

In 2004, in a joint proposal with Yachting Monthly and Gipsy Moth IV's owners, The Maritime Trust, the yacht was purchased by the United Kingdom Sailing Academy (UKSA) in Cowes, Isle of Wight, for a token sum of £1 and a gin and tonic (Sir Francis' favourite tipple). The UKSA, Yachting Monthly and the Maritime Trust were the three major project partners in the campaign to save the yacht.

In November 2004 Gipsy Moth IV was lifted out of Greenwich dry dock and taken by road to Camper and Nicholson's yard in Gosport, where she had been built and launched in 1966, for restoration. Although C&N did the work at cost price, the structural restoration cost more than £300,000, with money raised by donations from the public. Over 9000 hours were spent during the 28 week project. The additional equipment and services were provided by the British marine industry. As part of the yacht's restoration, the original B&G Navigation equipment was replaced with up to date electronics, but the original devices were left on a covering panel to maintain the feel of the 1966 build. On 20 June 2005, Gipsy Moth IV was relaunched and put back into "active service" by HRH Princess Anne.

The Gipsy Moth Trust

A model of Gipsy Moth IV at Bucklers Hard

For some time Gipsy Moth IV lay in Lymington Marina, stored at the end of a line of yachts for sale in the boat yard. In November 2010, she was sold to new British owners and remained at Cowes on display to the public.[3]

Gipsy Moth IV sailed at classic regattas in the summer of 2011, including Suffolk Yacht Harbour Classic Regatta (18–19 June), JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race (25 June), Panerai British Classic Week (16–23 July) and Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week (6–13 August).[4] She was one of a number of important vessels which were moored along the route of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Due to her size, she was not part of the flotilla of vessels, and instead was moored with other vessels at St Katharine Docks, in a display known as the Avenue of Sail.[5]

Gipsy Moth IV was a regular visitor to Bucklers Hard, especially for winter maintenance, during which times she was viewed by the public on special open days. In May 2017 she attended the Jersey Boat Show to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Chichester's circumnavigation.

The yacht was owned and maintained by The Gipsy Moth Trust, a registered charity, until 2021. Her costs were funded by paying passengers and crew, and by donations to the Trust.

In February 2021 she was put up for sale by the Trust when COVID-19 badly affected the continued operation of the Trust.[6]

In March 2022, Gipsy Moth IV was purchased by Simon Oberholzer who has undertaken her second complete restoration, back to her to her original "1967 state". As Gipsy Moth has a full keel and wide turning circle, and in order to manoeuver her into small spaces in today's marinas, a specially designed electric powered water thruster was developed and has been installed in the bow during the 2022 restoration at the Elephant Boatyard, on the Hamble River. This allows Gipsy Moth IV now to turn easily without compromising her structural integrity or ruining the aesthetics of her classic lines. Gipsy Moth IV's 2022 outer-restoration was completed, just a day before her Royal Review by the Princess Royal at Cowes Week and the Solent Platinum Jubilee Celebration on 6 August 2022. The cumulative cost of the Gipsy Moth IV and restorations now exceeds £2 million.

In addition to the restoration, Oberholzer has collected more than one thousand documents, articles, artifacts and other memorabilia (ranging from minted coins to issued stamps and tea clothes) which relate to Gipsy Moth IV and which secures her status as a sailing legend.

As of November 2015 the inside back cover of all new British passports have an illustration of Gipsy Moth IV.[7]

The restoration activities surrounding Gipsy Moth IV during 2022-2023 have not been limited to the yacht itself, but have been extended to include the creation and updating of the Gipsy Moth IV logo by Bas van der Heide, who has a long association with various of The Ocean Race yachts (and who designed boats like ABN Amro 1 and 2 - and most recently Jajo in 2023). In addition, a Gipsy Moth IV and Sir Francis Chichester knowledge platform for educational purposes has been started: www.gipsymothiv.com.

The Origin of Ocean Racing

Chichester's and Gipsy Moth IV's voyage in 1966 is regarded as the first race-around-the-world and the origin of ocean racing.

Gipsy Moth IV salutes The Ocean Race partipicants June 15, 2023

At the start of the final leg of the Ocean Race 2023, at the Hague, Gipsy Moth IV provided a full dress salute to the participating boats and the following day, the same to the Admiral of the Dutch navy at the Scheveningen harbour's "Vlaggetjesdag" festival which has been held annually since 1947.

Flag and Club affiliation

Gipsy Moth IV sails under the British flag (Red Ensign) and is linked to the Royal Thames Yacht Club.

Gipsy Moth IV...

• is the first sailing boat to be raced solo around the world in 1966/67.
• was sailed by Sir Francis Chichester who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for this first ever solo-round the world voyage.
• despite her small size of 53 feet, beat the times of the great tea clippers like the Cutty Sark.
• was designed by Illingworth and Primrose and is the first ever specifically designed round-the-world ocean racer.
• is a very light composite yacht made of Honduran mahogany and epoxy weighing circa. 13 tons.
• was visited by more than 1 million people already in 1977.
• has been either visited, inspected or sailed by the British royals on 5 official occasions.
• was out of the water on display at the British National Maritime Museum as Greenwich, London for 37 years.
• has a song written about her by Dire Straits: "Single-Handed Sailor."
• has been restored twice to sailing condition in 2005 and 2022 and has had cumulatively more than 2 million pounds spent on her build and restorations.
• was run aground on a reef, during her second circumnavigation in the South Pacific in 2006 and she was repaired by the Emirates America’s Cup Team New Zealand in Auckland.
• was illustrated on the inside pages of the British passport in 2015.
• is the origin of ocean racing and has inspired more than 45 round-the-world ocean races since her first voyage.

Gipsy Moth IV owners website: https://gipsymothiv.com/ All current information, updates and activities surrounding Gipsy Moth IV can be found on this website.