While Britain slept, hundreds of sailors on the other side of the globe welcomedGipsy Moth IVback to Sydney Harbour on a glorious Sunday afternoon in July. It was 40 years ago that the famous 53ft ketch sailed into the harbour with Sir Francis Chichester, 65, at the helm, after his solo, non-stop voyage of 14,000 miles from Plymouth.
Among those aboard asGipsy Moth IVsailed past the famous opera house and under the shadow of Sydney harbour bridge were lead skipper Richard Baggett, from UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) in Cowes, young crew members James Blake, son of Sir Peter Blake, and Elaine Caldwell, 23, from the Isle of Skye who was on the first leg of the voyage from Plymouth to Bayona, plus YM’s editor Paul Gelder, who founded the save Gipsy Moth project.