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CV of Sir Francis

Awarded the Johnson Memorial Trophy for his epic flight, he was the first holder of this coveted award.  In flying solo from New Zealand to Japan he made the first solo long distance flight in a sea plane.  This flight ended in disaster when he collided with an overhead cable and the plane crashed in Katsuura Harbour.  He was dreadfully injured but was nursed back to health by a brilliant doctor and kind, sympathetic Japanese nurses.

Francis Chichester sailed around the world in 1966-7 and had crossed the Atlantic several times prior to that, but he remained the driving force behind his successful business of map publishing and navigation specialists.

The Francis Chichester Map and Guide publishing house started in 1945 - the day after Francis Chichester was demobbed from the Royal Air Force.  He was a map designer, publisher, salesman, secretary and office boy rolled into one.  His office was one room on the ground floor in the lovely William and Mary house in St. James's Place, London SW1 which his wife and he bought in 1944 during the height of the V1 bomb "doodlebug" raids.  His first commercial undertaking in 1945 was turning 15,000 wartime Air Ministry maps into jig-saw puzzles and selling them to the major London stores.

Today publish  pocket maps and guides which are sold throughout the world.  The best seller is the Map and Guide of London, containing forty pages of five-colour immensely clear maps of Central London plus information on hotels, restaurants, night life, museums and places of interest.

SIR FRANCIS CHICHESTER K.B.E.

1901

Born in Shirwell, North Devon on 17th September.

Educated Marlborough College.

1919

Emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 18.

With Geoffrey Goodwin formed real estate, timber and aviation companies.

1923

Married Muriel Blakiston (died 1929)

Son George born 1926 (died 1967)

1927-30

The Goodwin and Chichester Aviation Company carried 9,000 passengers without loss of life or injury.

1929

Returned to England and learnt to fly.

In December he set out from Croydon to Sydney in a Gypsy Moth 'plane and became second to fly solo to Australia.

1931

Made first solo flight across the Tasman Sea east to west from New Zealand to Australia via Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island in his Gypsy Moth 'plane fitted with floats and converted into a seaplane

For this epic flight received the Johnston Memorial Trophy and was first holder of this coveted award.  The navigational system he devised became later the standing procedure for use by Coastal Command in the latter years of the war.

Flew solo on from Australia to Japan.  This was the first long distance flight made solo in a seaplane.  Crashed at Katsuura in Japan and nearly died.

1936

Flew a Puss Moth 'plane with one passenger, to England across Asia.

1937

Married Sheila Mary Craven, son Giles born July 1946.

1940-45

Writing navigation instruction manuals at the Air Ministry.

Chief Navigation Instructor of the Empire Central Flying School.  Devised methods of teaching fighter pilots navigation by low level flying without maps.

1945

Started map and guide publishing business (Francis Chichester Ltd.)

1945-59

Warden of the Court of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.

Fellow and Member of Council of the Institute of Navigation.

1953-57

Took part in 16 ocean races in Gipsy Moth II. (His yacht "Gipsy Moth II" was named after his Gypsy Moth 'plane, spelled differently).

1956

Winner of the Stuart Cup R.O.R.C. Race - Southsea-Harwich. 

1958

Diagnosed with carcinoma of the lung, advised to have one lung removed and given six months to live.

Wife Sheila defied the consultants, refused to let them operate and gradually nursed him back to health, helped by prayer and nature cure.

1959

Took delivery of Gipsy Moth III, originally commissioned in 1957 before the illness.  Decided to enter trans-Atlantic race to "complete my cure!"

1960

Winner 1^st Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race in Gipsy Moth III, Plymouth to New York, June 11^th-July 21^st. His time of  401/2 days was 16 days faster than previous record crossing.  Sailed back via the Azores accompanied by his wife Sheila.

Observer Trophy for Race presented by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh. Voted Yachtsman of the Year.

Awarded the Blue Water Medal for 1960 by the Cruising Club of America.  Last awarded 1956.

1961

Awarded Gold Medal of the Institute of Navigation 1961.  In making the award, the President of the Institute said "we consider Mr. Chichester the greatest single-handed navigator of the age."

1962

In June broke his own single-handed trans-Atlantic record by 7 days crossing from east to west in 33 days 15 hours, again Plymouth to New York.

Sailed back accompanied by his wife, Sheila, and son Giles, aged 16, Cape Cod-Plymouth 26 1/2 days.

1963

Made film "Atlantic Adventurer", released January 1965.

Wrote autobiography "The Lonely Sea and the Sky" published by Hodder and Stoughton on 4^th May 1964.  A best-seller.

1964

In New Year's Honours awarded C.B.E. for services to yachting. 

Second in the 2^nd solo trans-Atlantic race achieving his personal ambition of crossing the Atlantic in under 30 days, Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island.

Sailed back accompanied by his son Giles, Newport to the Lizard. (25 days 9 hours).

1966

Launched Gipsy Moth IV 23rd August sailed from Tower Pier, London, for Plymouth with pilot crew of wife Sheila and son Giles.

27th August sailed from Plymouth in an attempt to race single-handed against the average time of the Australian wool clipper voyages of 230 days round the world.  Aimed to make Sydney, Australia, the only port of call in 100 days from Plymouth, spend 30 days in Sydney and return to Plymouth, England in 100 days.

12th December sailed into Sydney, completing voyage from Plymouth to Sydney in 107 days.

1967

28th January awarded Knighthood.

29th January set sail from Sydney on second passage of his voyage to Plymouth via Cape Horn.

20th March rounded Cape Horn.

11th April completed circumnavigation in 6 months 8 days (when homeward bound track crossed outward bound track).

28th May completed voyage round the world at Plymouth Breakwater 19.56 GMT, 119 days from Sydney.  Time of round voyage 274 days, 226 days sailing time.  Said "because it intensifies life" on why he had done it.

2nd July left Plymouth to sail to London accompanied by his wife Sheila, son Giles and Commander Errol Bruce.

7th July received accolade in public at Greenwich from H.M. Queen Elizabeth II who used the sword that Queen Elizabeth I gave to Sir Francis Drake.  Sailed on to Tower Pier where he was welcomed by the
Lord Mayor of London and the Lady Mayoress with whom he drove through the City to the Mansion House to a tremendous welcome by the citizens of London.  This was followed by a luncheon in Sir Francis's honour at the Mansion House.

24th July special Gipsy Moth IV pictorial stamp issued by the G.P.O. to commemorate the circumnavigation voyage.

4th August received "Figurehead of Courage" award from San Remo.

12th October received Freedom of Barnstaple, Devon.

13th November "Gipsy Moth Circles the World", Sir Francis's personal account of his circumnavigation voyage published by Hodder and Stoughton. A best seller.

November awarded Blue Water Medal by the CCA for an unprecedented second time.

December delivered an illustrated lecture about his feat to a capacity audience in the Royal Festival Hall. 

Other honours between August and December 1967 include:-

·        Australian Institute of Navigation Gold Medal

·        Yacht Club de France Special Centenary Award

·        Member D'Honneur of Yacht Club de France

·        Royal Yacht Squadron Special Bronze Medal made from a bolt from the Cutty Sark

·        Chichester Award from the Royal Yacht Squadron for the outstanding solo yachting achievement for 1967

·        Royal Geographical Society Gold Medal

·        Honorary Master of the Bench of the Middle Temple

·        Institute of Navigation Special Award

·        Superior Achievement  Award of the American Institute of Navigation

·        Younger Brother of Trinity House

·        Guild of Yachting Writers Gold Medal

·        Marconi Memorial Gold Medal awarded by the Veteran Wireless Operators Association New York.

·        Royal Cruising Club medal for seamanship 1967

Records achieved during the voyage round the world:

·        Fastest voyage round the world by any small vessel (Approximately twice as fast as previous record)

·        Longest passage that had been made by a small sailing vessel without a port of call (15,500 miles)

·        More than twice the distance of the previous longest passage by a single-hander  (15,500 compared with 7,400)

·        Twice broke the record for a single-hander's week's run by more than 100 miles

·        Established a record for single-handed speed by sailing 1,400 miles from point to point in 8 days

·        Twice exceeded the single-handed speed record for a long passage.  Gipsy Moth' s speeds were 131 3/4 miles per day for 107 days, and 130 1/4 miles per day for 119 days

·        First true solo circumnavigation (where the track passes over two points antipodean to each other) via the three Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn  making only one stop.

1968

Travelled to New Zealand and Australia by merchant ship through Panama Canal and across the Pacific to visit old haunts and old friends as well as promote his book on the circumnavigation.

Wrote keep fit book for publication in 1969.

1969

Started planning Gipsy Moth V and his next venture.  Presented a television series on comparative faiths for London Weekend Television.

1970

Took delivery of his last yacht.  Made an hour long bio-documentary film entitled "The Lonely Sea and the Sky".  Sailed via Gibraltar to Balearic Islands and back for filming and equipment trials.

1971

Sailed single-handed, in his 70^th year, to Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, thence across the Atlantic through the Caribbean to San Juan del Norte in Nicaragua in order to establish a solo speed record along a straight line 4000 miles from point to point of 23 1/2 days averaging 179 miles a day.

From there sailed back out of Caribbean into the middle of the Atlantic, turned south to the equator for another 1000 mile speed run across the Trade Winds and then sailed north back to England via the Azores.  Suffered severe knock down en route but lived to tell the tale.

Wrote and published "The Romantic Challenge" about his 18500 odyssey round the North Atlantic.

Diagnosed with cancer again, this time a tumour near the base of his spine.

1972

Notwithstanding his weakened condition, requiring regular blood transfusions he entered the 4^th single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race and started from Plymouth.

After some days his health got worse and he announced he was turning back.  A French weather vessel collided with Gipsy Moth V while trying to offer assistance and broke the mizen mast.

His son Giles and three volunteers from HMS Ark Royal were helicoptered out to the Western Approaches to help sail Gipsy Moth V back to Plymouth.

Sadly, nearly two months later, the grim reaper finally caught up with Sir Francis who died in the Royal Naval Hospital at Stonehouse, Plymouth on August 26^th.  He was buried at Shirwell, North Devon.

Postcript

1979

He was honoured and remembered at Westminster Abbey in the Navigators Memorial plaque featuring the vessels and routes of three great English circumnavigators.  Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook and Sir Francis Chichester.

PUBLISHED WORKS

Flying                          Solo to Sydney 1930 (out of print, latest edition 1982)

                                    Alone over the Tasman Sea 1945 - originally published as 'Seaplane                         Solo' 1933 - (out of print latest edition 1966)                           

                                    Ride on the Wind 1936 (out of print, latest edition 1989)

Navigation                  Navigation Notes for Instructors and Students Air Ministry 1941-43

                                    Astro-Navigation Parts I & II 1940

                                    Part III 1941

                                    Part IV 1942

                                    The Spotters Handbook 1940

                                    Night and Fire Spotting 1941

                                    Pinpoint the Bomber 1942

                                    Planisphere of air navigation stars

                                    Star recognition 1943

                                    Sun Compass 1944

                                    Star Compass 1945

Sailing                         Alone Across the Atlantic 1961 (out of print, latest edition 1979)

                                    Atlantic Adventurer 1962 (out of print)

                                    Along the Clipper Way 1966    (out of print, latest edition 1974)

                                    Gipsy Moth Circles The World 1967 (new edition published autumn 2000)

                                    Romantic Challenge (out of print, latest edition1989)

Autobiography            The Lonely Sea & The Sky 1964 (new edition due 2002)

Keep Fit                      How to keep fit (by one who is never as fit as he would like to be) 
                                    1969 (out of print)  Contact Francis Chichester Ltd. for further information.
                                     http://www.francischichester.com

9 St. James's Place, London SW1A 1PE