4 ms·

“They Went to Sea in a Sieve, They Did”

113 points by Thevet 10y ago

llasram 10y ago
If you want more detail on this story, I found Peter Nichol's book A Voyage for Madmen on the race as a whole quite engaging.
- telesilla 10y ago
  Thanks, didn't know about this - now it's next on my kindle queue
- ComteDeLaFere 10y ago
  I read The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst in high school, and can recommend that as well.
  - lmm 10y ago
    Looks like the ebook's being released later this month. Guess a marketer somewhere is laying some groundwork.
telesilla 10y ago
I LOVE this story. So interesting, particularly Crowhurst and Moitessier. A lot to find: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deepwater/ http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deepwater/ Short tv doc on Crowhurst, how he fabricated his position to try and fake success: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNpaP8TmGkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNpaP8TmGkU Moitessier, who just decided to quit the race and stay at sea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier
revelation 10y ago
Stop with the creepy image zooming, it's not edgy, it's annoying.
- preordained 10y ago
  It's nothing. The pictures are clear/visible when I occasionally wander from the article to one for a moment--they zoom a bit, didn't care either way. I think UX/UI pedants see the web in a different way than the users they are supposedly championing.
  - lmm 10y ago
    Motion is always distracting. Same reason we hate animated ads.
creeble 10y ago
Incredible story, and Deep Water (the documentary) is hands-down the best documentary I've ever seen. It's easy to write off Crowhurst as a nut job, but the movie does a great job of showing him as just a human in a tight spot.
- Bulkington 10y ago
  Concur re: Deep Water doc. The competitors all carried small movie cameras and tape recorders, and there's some great / creepy footage and narration, IIRC. Stream it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EC8IMM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EC8IMM
nemo1618 10y ago
A fascinating tidbit from Wikipedia: >The 1986 Soviet film Race of the Century ("Гонка века") gave a dramatic presentation of the events of the Golden Globe Race and the fate of Donald Crowhurst. The movie focused on the idea of competition in a capitalist society as a soul-consuming "rat race", where all community members including children are under constant pressure, and failure and poverty are not tolerated. It portrayed Crowhurst as a deeply honest man being forced into a dangerous unwinnable enterprise by his disastrous financial situation and the greed of his entrepreneur Best. The screenplay took some liberties with the facts, such as downplaying Crowhurst's role in his own destruction, and reporting Tetley as having been killed in a wreckage instead of committing suicide many years later (probably to increase the tension). Crowhurst's suicide is ascribed chiefly to the inability of a moral person to survive in an immoral society.
gregschlom 10y ago
By the way if anyone in this community is into solo round the world sailing, the Vendee Globe is currently under way. It's a fantastic race that happens every four years: all participants have the same type of boat, although newer generation boats are much faster than those a couple of years old, and they have to sail around the world solo and without any external help - so that if something breaks they cant stop somewhere to get a replacement part. Each sailor has a camera and is required to send videos of their journey, which are fantastic to watch if you enjoy this kind of things: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Videos: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/web-tv/playlist/104 http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/web-tv/playlist/104 Real time gps tracking: http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/ http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/
- seszett 10y ago
  Also, the race this year is especially interesting as the two first racers are still within miles of each other, even after having sailed for about 10 000 nautical miles (11 000 miles, or 18 000 kilometers)! The navy actually just met both of them on yesterday https://twitter.com/VendeeGlobe/status/804057688866856960/video/1 https://twitter.com/VendeeGlobe/status/804057688866856960/vi...
cromulent 10y ago
I read this other account recently, for those that are interested: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/05/donald-crowhurst-lone-sailor https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/05/donald-crowhurst-...
headmelted 10y ago
I have nothing to add to this other than I literally recite "The Jumblies" to my son every night to put him to sleep, and its the only thing that works. I can see why the poem struck such a chord with Donald Crowhurst, though. The regret of those that didn't go and experience "the hills of the Chankly Bore" is what frames the ending. I'm sure he read the poem to his son, too, and I could understand why the journey would have scared them both. I thoroughly recommend Samuel West's reading from CBeebies if you are able to find it.

113 points by Thevet 10y ago

If you want more detail on this story, I found Peter Nichol's book A Voyage for Madmen on the race as a whole quite engaging.

telesilla 10y ago
Thanks, didn't know about this - now it's next on my kindle queue
ComteDeLaFere 10y ago
I read The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst in high school, and can recommend that as well.
- lmm 10y ago
  Looks like the ebook's being released later this month. Guess a marketer somewhere is laying some groundwork.

telesilla 10y ago

I LOVE this story. So interesting, particularly Crowhurst and Moitessier. A lot to find: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deepwater/ http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/deepwater/ Short tv doc on Crowhurst, how he fabricated his position to try and fake success: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNpaP8TmGkU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNpaP8TmGkU Moitessier, who just decided to quit the race and stay at sea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier

revelation 10y ago

Stop with the creepy image zooming, it's not edgy, it's annoying.

preordained 10y ago
It's nothing. The pictures are clear/visible when I occasionally wander from the article to one for a moment--they zoom a bit, didn't care either way. I think UX/UI pedants see the web in a different way than the users they are supposedly championing.
- lmm 10y ago
  Motion is always distracting. Same reason we hate animated ads.

creeble 10y ago

Incredible story, and Deep Water (the documentary) is hands-down the best documentary I've ever seen. It's easy to write off Crowhurst as a nut job, but the movie does a great job of showing him as just a human in a tight spot.

Bulkington 10y ago
Concur re: Deep Water doc. The competitors all carried small movie cameras and tape recorders, and there's some great / creepy footage and narration, IIRC. Stream it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EC8IMM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EC8IMM

nemo1618 10y ago

A fascinating tidbit from Wikipedia: >The 1986 Soviet film Race of the Century ("Гонка века") gave a dramatic presentation of the events of the Golden Globe Race and the fate of Donald Crowhurst. The movie focused on the idea of competition in a capitalist society as a soul-consuming "rat race", where all community members including children are under constant pressure, and failure and poverty are not tolerated. It portrayed Crowhurst as a deeply honest man being forced into a dangerous unwinnable enterprise by his disastrous financial situation and the greed of his entrepreneur Best. The screenplay took some liberties with the facts, such as downplaying Crowhurst's role in his own destruction, and reporting Tetley as having been killed in a wreckage instead of committing suicide many years later (probably to increase the tension). Crowhurst's suicide is ascribed chiefly to the inability of a moral person to survive in an immoral society.

gregschlom 10y ago

By the way if anyone in this community is into solo round the world sailing, the Vendee Globe is currently under way. It's a fantastic race that happens every four years: all participants have the same type of boat, although newer generation boats are much faster than those a couple of years old, and they have to sail around the world solo and without any external help - so that if something breaks they cant stop somewhere to get a replacement part. Each sailor has a camera and is required to send videos of their journey, which are fantastic to watch if you enjoy this kind of things: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ Videos: http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/web-tv/playlist/104 http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/web-tv/playlist/104 Real time gps tracking: http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/ http://tracking2016.vendeeglobe.org/hp5ip0/

seszett 10y ago
Also, the race this year is especially interesting as the two first racers are still within miles of each other, even after having sailed for about 10 000 nautical miles (11 000 miles, or 18 000 kilometers)! The navy actually just met both of them on yesterday https://twitter.com/VendeeGlobe/status/804057688866856960/video/1 https://twitter.com/VendeeGlobe/status/804057688866856960/vi...

cromulent 10y ago

I read this other account recently, for those that are interested: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/05/donald-crowhurst-lone-sailor https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/apr/05/donald-crowhurst-...

headmelted 10y ago

I have nothing to add to this other than I literally recite "The Jumblies" to my son every night to put him to sleep, and its the only thing that works. I can see why the poem struck such a chord with Donald Crowhurst, though. The regret of those that didn't go and experience "the hills of the Chankly Bore" is what frames the ending. I'm sure he read the poem to his son, too, and I could understand why the journey would have scared them both. I thoroughly recommend Samuel West's reading from CBeebies if you are able to find it.