Robin Knox-Johnston Interview
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, CBE was the first man to perform a singlehanded non-stop circumnavigation of the Earth and was the second winner of the Jules Verne Trophy. A sailing idol to many and mentor to a fortunate few, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, 68, instantly forms the focal point when a group of offshore yachtsman gather: his enormous breadth of experience, inexhaustible repertoire of sailing anecdotes and rolling, throaty laugh are a hypnotic combination.
Is sailing around the world easier today or back when you were just 29?
Its easier because we know it is now possible; we did not know that in 1969! Communications are much better, you no longer need to be able to use a sextant as you have up to the second positions every 3 secs, and there is an abundance of safety equipment, which did not exist in pre satellite days.
Has your outlook on life changed?
Not that much. I am more patient now than I was as a younger man and tend to be calmer when things go wrong, but in part that is due to experience. If something has gone wrong before then you have a better idea of how to deal with it next time, something the youth culture does not understand.
How do you manage to sail around the world against much younger sailors?
Age is not a problem really. I have kept fit and strong and if you think things through you allow yourself a bit longer to do the harder jobs, but I don’t believe their youth is any great disadvantage, except that they tend to be more accustomed to computers and its attendant technology. In this respect I am at a disadvantage.
How many times have you sailed around the world?
This will be my 3rd time – once alone, and once with a crew. This is my second solo, but this time I have a shore team to mull things over with and computers to email friends and family.
What has been your most harrowing experience?
If stress is meant to be good for you then going down the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia must be very good for one. Solo sailing the Beagle Channel is not to be recommended, but the scenery is spectacular. It narrows to less than a mile in places and the wind gusts through – it was harrowing for hours and truly exhausting.
What has been your career highlight?
Apart from sharing the production of a delightful daughter, my trip solo non-stop around the world in 312 days in 1968/69. When you’re not sailing, how do you spend your spare time? Working on Suhaili, gardening, climbing with Chris Bonnington from time to time, reading about history and enjoying the company of close friends.
The marine environment is important to you. What is the biggest challenge facing it?
Global warming. Temperatures are rising and, for example, the Inuit in Greenland are finding fewer cod than they used to. If we allow this to go much further there is a danger that the Conveyor, which takes cold water from the arctic and thus draws in the Gulf Stream, will cease and then Britain becomes arctic, amongst other possibilities.
You have 5 grandchildren. Will they be following in your footsteps?
We all have different abilities; they have to discover where theirs lie. I don’t mind if none of them take up sailing, although I’d like to think they might derive as much pleasure from it as I have and do. The important thing for them to discover is what the want to do, be it sailor, rugby player, ballet dancer, whatever, and then do it to the best of their abilities.
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