Sir Knox-Johnstons Suhaili chooses Raymarine autopilot
by Raymarine Marketing / ADPR 7 Apr 2004 11:37 BST
Britain’s first single-handed round the world yacht chooses Raymarine autopilot © Colin Ross
Britain’s first single-handed round the world yacht chooses Raymarine autopilot
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s Suhaili, the first boat to be sailed non-stop around the world, is being fitted with a new Raymarine 4000 tiller pilot as part of a thorough refit in time for the 2004 season.
In marked contrast to the recent 72-day circumnavigation record set by Francis Joyon in his state of the art 90-foot trimaran, Suhaili, with Sir Robin at the helm, took a leisurely 312 days to sail non-stop around the globe. There were no modern electronics or instrument systems aboard, let alone a weather forecast service, Sir Robin used a sextant and chronometer. For two months, he was completely out of contact without even a working radio on board. Suhaili, once described as a ‘scruffy little ketch’, was unsponsored, smaller and considered less glamorous than other boats taking part in the Sunday Times challenge to circumnavigate the globe. In fact, Sir Robin was the only person to finish and, on return to his homeport of Falmouth in 1969, won the Sunday Times Golden Globe Trophy.
Twenty years later, in a bid to see how Columbus might have navigated, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston voyaged across the Atlantic using 15th Century navigation instruments, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of Navigation. However, the age of electronics struck when Suhaili became the family cruiser and was fitted with one of the original Autohelm autopilots, the forerunners of the current Raymarine range.
Sir Robin says, “Suhaili was on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, but we decided to get her back on the water. Suhaili's home base is on the pontoon at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. She is a much loved and cherished family cruising boat, so safety is paramount, and this means an autopilot is a valuable piece of equipment on board. The Raymarine 4000 series tiller pilot replaces an earlier version which worked very well.”
Suhaili will be competing in the Round the Island Race in June and will also sail in flotilla to the Scilly Isles in August as part of the Little Ship Club’s President’s West Country Cruise - Sir Robin is the President.
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