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Gipsy Moth Circles the World
This work tells the story of Frances Chichester, who aged 65, set out alone from Plymouth in his 53-foot ketch "Gypsy Moth VI" in August 1966 and sailed eastward around the world through the wild Southern Ocean, stopping only once - the first to accomplish this - in Sydney. Only nine yachts had previously circumnavigated by way of Cape Horn, and of them six had been capsized or somersaulted at least once. This 28,000-mile voyage, completed in May 1967, established new records for speed and endurance, captured the imagination of the world, and earned a knighthood for Chichester upon his return.
269 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1967
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About the author
Francis Chichester
43 books12 followersAviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 20, 2015
This was my mother's book one of the ones I saved after she passed away. My first attempt to read it ended in failure because the first chapter is all about building and testing Gipsy Moth IV, and it sort of lost me.
Now, after reading all Patrick O'Brian's Aubry/Maturin series, Chichester's book was more accessible and understandable, though there was still plenty of sailing vocabulary I didn't get.
Francis Chichester set off from London/Plymouth in September 1966 to sail singlehanded around the world in Gipsy Moth IV. In May 1967 he finished the voyage in Plymouth, sailed on to London and was knighted by QEII with the sword QEI had given to Sir Francis Drake after he completed a circumnavigation.
Gipsy Moth IV sits on Greenwich Pier in London today, right near the Cutty Sark. I've been there a couple of times. It would be wonderful to see it again now that I know its life story.
Now, after reading all Patrick O'Brian's Aubry/Maturin series, Chichester's book was more accessible and understandable, though there was still plenty of sailing vocabulary I didn't get.
Francis Chichester set off from London/Plymouth in September 1966 to sail singlehanded around the world in Gipsy Moth IV. In May 1967 he finished the voyage in Plymouth, sailed on to London and was knighted by QEII with the sword QEI had given to Sir Francis Drake after he completed a circumnavigation.
Gipsy Moth IV sits on Greenwich Pier in London today, right near the Cutty Sark. I've been there a couple of times. It would be wonderful to see it again now that I know its life story.
August 16, 2007
Gritty, realistic telling of a remarkable feat. Chichester does absolutely nothing to glamorize his experiences under an amazingly grueling set of circumstances. A remarkable, curmudgeonly anti-hero who stunned the world IN HIS SIXTIES. A grumpy inspiration to all...
July 25, 2025
Sir Francis Chichester made the fastest solo sailboat circumnavigation in 226 days in 1967 when he was 65 years old and diagnosed with terminal cancer. His book about his voyage has become a sailing classic. This is another book my husband and I devoured when we owned our sailboat Quest.
January 27, 2016
Chichester's story of his 1966 solo sailing voyage around the world, at age 65. He did the circumnavigation west to east. The trip took 226 days with a single stop in Sydney, making it the fastest circumnavigation in a small vessel. In 1898, Slocum took 3 years with numerous stops, but did the more difficult east to west against the prevailing winds.
The book largely covers Chichester's day to day activities. It is interesting to see how busy he was with numerous sail changes, and numerous maintenance activities.
The Gypsy Moth IV was custom built for Chichester but turned out to have a number of sailing faults, such as a tendency to broach. Some of these were corrected in Sydney. It also had many equipment issues such as leaks and hardware that did not stand up to corrosion. The self-steering gear gave him regular trouble. Through much of the voyage, he seems to be fighting the ship.
In spite of this, he managed to do a very fast circuit, showing him to be a most resourceful sailor.
The book largely covers Chichester's day to day activities. It is interesting to see how busy he was with numerous sail changes, and numerous maintenance activities.
The Gypsy Moth IV was custom built for Chichester but turned out to have a number of sailing faults, such as a tendency to broach. Some of these were corrected in Sydney. It also had many equipment issues such as leaks and hardware that did not stand up to corrosion. The self-steering gear gave him regular trouble. Through much of the voyage, he seems to be fighting the ship.
In spite of this, he managed to do a very fast circuit, showing him to be a most resourceful sailor.
March 21, 2019
A true mariner's classic. Required reading for any sailor worth his salt and an important history for the field. A bit slow at times, but this was particularly interesting as it was around the last time of sea exploration without use of autopilot, weather tracking devices, or any satellite monitoring capabilities, all of which make this endeavor infinitely less precarious. Additionally Chichester's voyage marked the chief inspiration for the Golden Globe race the following year, which is in my own opinion an even better story especially as told in A Voyage For Madmen, which I highly recommend.
June 29, 2008
To think he undertook voyage at age 65 boggles the mind. One of sailing's great men...
October 6, 2014
This book, like Kon Tiki, exemplified real adventure for me and my siblings when we were growing up. Loved it and want to reread!
October 20, 2022
Plymouth-Sidney-Plymouth, del 16 de agosto de 1966 al 28 de mayo de 1967. El viaje más veloz alrededor del mundo de navegación en solitario en un pequeño velero, con una sola escala, 29.630 millas y 226 días pasados en la mar. Soñar es poner en práctica los sueños, y esto es lo que hizo F. Chichester a los 65 años de edad. Toda una hazaña que merece la pena conocer, una navegación sin gps, a base de las cartas náuticas y la orientación astronómica. Yo no soy marinero ni lo quiero ser, pero me ha resultado una lectura interesante, aunque algo repetitiva porque durante muchos días nos cuenta las operaciones y maniobras para llevar el velero a rumbo y sus rutinas diarias, las dificultades con las tempestades o con las calmas, los problemas con el motor, las velas o el comportamiento del barco en algunas circunstancias, además de otras anécdotas o singularidades que surgen en esta gran aventura. Como era de esperar el libro está cargado de términos marineros, por lo que también ha sido interesante ampliar el vocabulario en esta materia.
January 5, 2025
My favorite genres including sailing, adventure, and survival. It was an excellent read I enjoyed over several days. The only criticism is some of the chapters could use better editing, but it was a tough job making a book out of thousands of pages of his logs. This really gives you a view of adventure sailing in the 20th century, when positions had to be determined by dead reckoning and occasional sitings of solar bodies, which combined with trigonometry mathematical practical knowledge, could establish quite accurate locations on the globe. Using a sextant he was very accurate, but using an astrolabe you really need two people, as it required a horizon fix: very tough on a pitching boat! You also get the idea of the discomfort found on a monohull, always pitched over at 30 degrees or more! Recommended for anyone in the sailing community, as well as lovers of history, adventure, and survival.
October 21, 2020
I felt extremely sorry for poor unfortunate Sir Chichester on his disaster trip until I came across this line:
“I restored my morale next morning by having a shave. It was my first since leaving Sydney, and I was thankful to get rid of the irritation on my face from the beard growing there. It was tough shaving, and I had to stop and clean the razor six times when it clogged up and would not work.”
Then I realized that he has an uncanny knack for turning just about any description into an opportunity to bewail his misfortune, and I felt better about his trip which probably was ok. Tough old bugger though, I was a bit concerned about his diet of honey water and pink gins at midday, perhaps this is why he was always banging his leg?
“I restored my morale next morning by having a shave. It was my first since leaving Sydney, and I was thankful to get rid of the irritation on my face from the beard growing there. It was tough shaving, and I had to stop and clean the razor six times when it clogged up and would not work.”
Then I realized that he has an uncanny knack for turning just about any description into an opportunity to bewail his misfortune, and I felt better about his trip which probably was ok. Tough old bugger though, I was a bit concerned about his diet of honey water and pink gins at midday, perhaps this is why he was always banging his leg?
December 28, 2022
This book was very good if you like all the details about sailing. I do, but even then it was a bit exhausting to read. I didn't deduct any stars because the exhaustion and tedium are part of sailing around the world and the book wouldn't be accurate if it didn't go into these details or if it over dramatized the situation. That being said, the book does have a kind of dramatic arc, with the climax being Cape Horn, and the denouement being the homecoming and afterwards by a journalist JRL Anderson and his wife Sheila Chichester. I mostly already knew all the boat terminology, but the boat diagram at the end would have been nice to refer to earlier.
August 21, 2018
I did enjoy this story but maybe I am a little spoiled with some of the other similar tales I have read. It just seems the middle was a lot of sail changes. I realize that's what was actually going on at the time but still boring all the same. That being said it was made up for with some great stories of capsizing and huge storms. you do have to respect anyone who can pull something like this off. I am glad I read this story as it been on my list for quit some time.
September 10, 2017
An excellent read about and written by a 65 year old man who circumnavigates the world east to west throught the most dangerous and isolated seas including the conquest of the Horn. On top of that, he does it singlehanded in record breaking time.
February 21, 2018
An outstanding accounting of one man's journey around the world alone. Fascinating and exhilarating. Sir Francis is a wonderful storyteller. His several month trip was filled with tales of dolphins and storms, sail changes and determination. An adventure for a lifetime.
June 9, 2020
Overly technical for the average reader (more than 50% must be about raising or lowering sails alone) and far too modest for what he achieved, it's still an incredible record of an incredible journey.
August 29, 2020
This was a really good and interesting book, if you understand all of your sailing lingo really well. Otherwise, it is hard to read and kinda painful. I decided to take the loss on this one. Just not for me, hence the 3 stars.
January 27, 2022
An excellent story and saga. Occasionally it gets a little bit in the weeds with some technical sailing jargon, but by the end of the book you might even feel ready to sail solo around the globe. (Not really.)
A sailing classic.
A sailing classic.
June 6, 2023
The first half of this book, the sail to Sidney, earns three stars. In this section the author did a great deal of complaining about the performance of the boat. The trip from Sidney back to Portsmouth was exciting earning five stars.
April 23, 2019
Written by Sr Francis Chichester himself, his account of his solo circumnavigation at age 65 on Gipsy Moth IV.
April 21, 2020
Awesome book if you geek out on sailing adventures or any adventure with high stakes and high drama. I loved that all this was done before GPS, satellite phones and autopilots.
June 12, 2020
One of my favorites! Incredible adventure, extraordinary person.
January 17, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. A great sailing adventure for anyone who loves sailing.
August 25, 2021
A great sailing adventure for anyone that likes sailing. A great achievement but got a bit repetitive at times. Nevertheless a great man.
October 4, 2021
Loved this book when I read it. It carried me away.
December 11, 2024
First person account of a daring adventure by Francis Chichester in “Gipsy Moth Circles the World”.
More at
https://vramonline.wordpress.com/2024...
More at
https://vramonline.wordpress.com/2024...
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June 23, 2025what one driven person can do! fantastic story of a solo round the world voyage still has plenty of interest despite it being over 50 years ago.
August 16, 2025
Sir Chichester is a great sailor, but his sailboat, the Gypsy Moth, was such a bad design. It is amazing what he put up with on this journey.
December 27, 2012
Surprisingly, I had never heard of Sir Francis Chichester or of his book Gypsy Moth Circles the World until I found and bought a copy at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney several years ago. I love accounts of true sailing adventures, and when I recently rediscovered this book on my shelf I finally dove in.
Sir Francis Chichester was a distinguished aviator before becoming a yachtsman. He made the first solo flight East to West across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, and was the first to land an aircraft at Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. On Lord Howe Island his plane was heavily damaged and he ended up having to rebuild it himself with the help of native islanders. On an attempt to circumnavigate the world solo by airplane some time later he hit an overhead cable and went down in Japan. In WWII Chichester enlisted for the UK as a Navigation Expert, literally writing the manual for solo fighter aircraft "kneeboard navigation," enabling them to run missions across Europe and return successfully, counteracting the errors resulting from the difficulties of taking sun sights with a sextant alone from a moving airplane. Chichester was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1958 (possibly a misdiagnosed lung abscess), which went into remission after his wife placed him on a strict vegetarian diet. He then began a career in long distance yacht racing.
Gypsy Moth Circles the World is Chichester's account of his 1966-1967 solo circumnavigation of the globe by yacht, beginning and ending in Plymouth, UK, with only one stop in Sydney, Australia. Chichester was the first to circle alone from West to East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Joshua Slocum was the first single-handed circumnavigator, but he took three years doing it with multiple stops going in the opposite direction, against the prevailing winds. Chichester completed his voyage in 226 days of sailing, racing the routes and fastest times of the Cutty Sark and other commercial clipper ships, who had their heydays in the late 1800's. Upon his return to England Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II with the same sword used by Elizabeth I to knight Sir Francis Drake. His boat Gypsy Moth IV was refitted and completed a second circumnavigation in 2007.
The story is fascinating, and the book itself is very interesting to sailors, but it contains lots of technical information that might lose the casual reader or a reader not well versed in sailing jargon. For the most part Chichester limits his narrative to the day to day nuts and bolts of single-handed sailing, rarely dramatizing any single event beyond what sails he set, what had to be repaired, his sailing progress, and how much sleep he got (very little). Chichester's understatement goes a bit far at times, I feel, especially when recounting the capsize he suffered near Australia and rounding Cape Horn. The only times he really lets his feelings show are when he is interrupted in his solitary routine by reporters or by scheduled radio interviews. In these instances he turns a bit grumpy, resenting the intrusions.
I found the first part of the book a bit dry but interesting as well. It recounts the difficulties in the design and building of the Gypsy Moth IV, and with the various voyage preparations. Again, this information is interesting if you are planning a voyage, but a casual reader might lose interest.
Gypsy Moth Circles the World is a book by a sailor for sailors, and by "sailor," I mean one of the very best. I give it 4 stars out of 5 because it can get a bit dry and technical in spots. The book might have benefited from a co-author, but then the reader would have someone else between him and Chichester himself. I for one would rather have Chichester just as he is rather than overly dramatized for the purpose of selling more books.
Sir Francis Chichester was a distinguished aviator before becoming a yachtsman. He made the first solo flight East to West across the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Australia, and was the first to land an aircraft at Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island. On Lord Howe Island his plane was heavily damaged and he ended up having to rebuild it himself with the help of native islanders. On an attempt to circumnavigate the world solo by airplane some time later he hit an overhead cable and went down in Japan. In WWII Chichester enlisted for the UK as a Navigation Expert, literally writing the manual for solo fighter aircraft "kneeboard navigation," enabling them to run missions across Europe and return successfully, counteracting the errors resulting from the difficulties of taking sun sights with a sextant alone from a moving airplane. Chichester was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 1958 (possibly a misdiagnosed lung abscess), which went into remission after his wife placed him on a strict vegetarian diet. He then began a career in long distance yacht racing.
Gypsy Moth Circles the World is Chichester's account of his 1966-1967 solo circumnavigation of the globe by yacht, beginning and ending in Plymouth, UK, with only one stop in Sydney, Australia. Chichester was the first to circle alone from West to East by way of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Joshua Slocum was the first single-handed circumnavigator, but he took three years doing it with multiple stops going in the opposite direction, against the prevailing winds. Chichester completed his voyage in 226 days of sailing, racing the routes and fastest times of the Cutty Sark and other commercial clipper ships, who had their heydays in the late 1800's. Upon his return to England Chichester was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II with the same sword used by Elizabeth I to knight Sir Francis Drake. His boat Gypsy Moth IV was refitted and completed a second circumnavigation in 2007.
The story is fascinating, and the book itself is very interesting to sailors, but it contains lots of technical information that might lose the casual reader or a reader not well versed in sailing jargon. For the most part Chichester limits his narrative to the day to day nuts and bolts of single-handed sailing, rarely dramatizing any single event beyond what sails he set, what had to be repaired, his sailing progress, and how much sleep he got (very little). Chichester's understatement goes a bit far at times, I feel, especially when recounting the capsize he suffered near Australia and rounding Cape Horn. The only times he really lets his feelings show are when he is interrupted in his solitary routine by reporters or by scheduled radio interviews. In these instances he turns a bit grumpy, resenting the intrusions.
I found the first part of the book a bit dry but interesting as well. It recounts the difficulties in the design and building of the Gypsy Moth IV, and with the various voyage preparations. Again, this information is interesting if you are planning a voyage, but a casual reader might lose interest.
Gypsy Moth Circles the World is a book by a sailor for sailors, and by "sailor," I mean one of the very best. I give it 4 stars out of 5 because it can get a bit dry and technical in spots. The book might have benefited from a co-author, but then the reader would have someone else between him and Chichester himself. I for one would rather have Chichester just as he is rather than overly dramatized for the purpose of selling more books.
April 20, 2018
What a challenge an adventure as this would be, and to be able to accomplish a feat as this at an age of 65. Well written account of Chichester's amazing solo voyage. I learned a lot of terminology that I was unfamiliar with, in interest. That's what I enjoy about reading. He frequently uses sailing terms, so for those unfamiliar, you will learn much. Enjoyable read. Well worth addition to your reading library.
February 18, 2021
An excellent book, a book that changed my life when I read an early edition in about 1972. This book easily is in my top ten most influential books of my life.
This was my third reading of the book, but on this reading I enjoyed the new material added in this edition. I appreciate much more, on this reading, the magnitude of his accomplishments.
This book has a wonderful appendix listing his supplies & food in detail. This list has been on my mind for decades. If perused thoughtfully, it is another way of understanding the scope of his project.
The book is based on his logs, and moves quickly, at least for me! I was right there sailing with him. I wish I could have met Sir Chichester. (He died when I was 13, just a year after I first read the book.)
His wife Sheila was an amazing lady as well. Her faith in prayer was a point that I failed to understand on previous readings. It was her job to provision the ship. He could not have made the trip without her support.
I once owned a vessel of approximately the same size, and I provisioned it for an ocean passage. We never made the passage, but Chichester was on my shoulder every step of the way. Thank you Francis for your courage, determination, and for always being grateful for the good in life.
What a marvelous book, about a remarkable man and wife, and the sea.
This was my third reading of the book, but on this reading I enjoyed the new material added in this edition. I appreciate much more, on this reading, the magnitude of his accomplishments.
This book has a wonderful appendix listing his supplies & food in detail. This list has been on my mind for decades. If perused thoughtfully, it is another way of understanding the scope of his project.
The book is based on his logs, and moves quickly, at least for me! I was right there sailing with him. I wish I could have met Sir Chichester. (He died when I was 13, just a year after I first read the book.)
His wife Sheila was an amazing lady as well. Her faith in prayer was a point that I failed to understand on previous readings. It was her job to provision the ship. He could not have made the trip without her support.
I once owned a vessel of approximately the same size, and I provisioned it for an ocean passage. We never made the passage, but Chichester was on my shoulder every step of the way. Thank you Francis for your courage, determination, and for always being grateful for the good in life.
What a marvelous book, about a remarkable man and wife, and the sea.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews