Sir Francis Chichester

Back on May 28, 1967, Francis Chichester sailed into Plymouth harbor, England, completing an epic voyage around the globe in 226 days. This was done faster and farther than any other man in nautical history. However, many weeks earlier, Chichester had encountered heavy seas in the South Indian Ocean, battering his 53-foot sailboat Gipsy Moth III, breaking his most precious piece of equipment – the automatic steering gear. With 17,000 miles still ahead of him, he knew that without the automatic pilot he could scarcely sleep, eat, navigate, change sails or perform other essential tasks. However, he created a make-shift self-steering rig, and with it, he was able to complete the remaining 2,750 miles to Sydney, Australia, his only stop. In Sydney, he rested for some weeks to regain the 25 pounds he had lost and to refit his severely damaged vessel. Then Chichester set off across the Pacific for the most dangerous part of his journey – the rounding of Cape Horn at the tip of South America. Despite driving rain, mountainous seas and freezing winds of up to 100 mph, the daunting mariner rounded the Cape and sailed on to the eventual goal of Plymouth Harbor. He never gave up.