A World of My Own : The First Ever Non-stop Solo Round the World Voyage

By Robin Knox-Johnston On Friday 14 June 1968 Suhaili, a tiny ketch, slipped almost unnoticed out of Falmouth harbour steered by the solitary figure at her helm, Robin Knox-Johnston. Ten and a half months later Suhaili, paintwork peeling and rust streaked, her once white sails weathered and brown, her self-steering gone, her tiller arm jury rigged to the rudder head, came romping joyously back to Falmouth to a fantastic reception for Robin, who had become the first man to sail round the world non-stop single-handed. By every standard it was an incredible adventure, perhaps the last great uncomputerised journey left to man.Every hazard, every temptation to abandon the astounding voyage came Robin's way, from polluted water tanks, smashed cabin top and collapsed boom to lost self-steering gear and sheered off tiller, and all before the tiny ketch had fought her way to Cape Horn, the point of no return, the fearsome test of any seaman's nerve and determination. A World of My Own is Robin's gripping, uninhibited, moving account of one of the greatest sea adventures of our time. An instant bestseller, it is now reissued for a new generation of readers to be enthralled and inspired. Arthur Beale says: "A new edition of a yachting classic. This is the account of Knox-Johnston's solo non-stop circumnavigation in the 1968 Golden Globe Race, as the only contestant to finish, aboard his Indian-built ketch Suhaili. Knox-Johnston is unflappable in the face of all sorts of trials, and the book is fluidly written, making for an easy and compelling read. Worth it just for the list of stores: the author set sail with 216 12oz tins of corned beef, 3000 cigarettes and a case each of brandy and whisky, amongst other things..."