Colin Firth to play Donald Crowhurst!

Rhyddid said:
And so RKJ should...... so I believe. View attachment 48907 He gave away the prize which is the equivalent of 2 houses in present prize money.....
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I'm not sure if it is the post or my inability to paste and copy! I was saying that RKJ is a solid guy. And the 5K prize mony he won(RKJ) in1968 would of bought two average houses then......... Just trying to add some prospective to the jesture of giving Mrs Crowhurst the prize money
 
Rhyddid said:
I'm not sure if it is the post or my inability to paste and copy! I was saying that RKJ is a solid guy. And the 5K prize mony he won(RKJ) in1968 would of bought two average houses then......... Just trying to add some prospective to the jesture of giving Mrs Crowhurst the prize money
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Absolutely agree, it was a fantastic thing for him to do.
 
I will really look forward to this.

I saw Deep Water in the little cinema in Ocean Village.

There was just me and a few other sailors in there one afternoon.

We all just sat there in stunned silence as the credits rolled.

An incredibly moving film.
 
It's a cracking story with a deep sadness running through it. Didn't RKJ also really help out another widow - of the chap who committed suicide? From memory he gave her a permanent houseboat mooring in a marina he had shares in. He really is an extraordinary guy, consummate athlete, mentally resilient and compassionate.
 
The Crowhurst story is new to me, but I'll certainly be very keen to see the film, provided the dread expressed here about hokey Hollywood treatment, proves unfounded.

But there's one thing I don't understand about Crowhurst's plan, considering how grand the deception was meant to be...why, when his competitors all dropped out or sank, could he not proceed to the finish, in whatever state he might have felt Teignmouth Electron would have reached after the harsh weather he was claiming to have experienced?

It is said he intended to come in 3rd or 4th, escaping close scrutiny...but if the race committee believed until the end that he really had been round the world, what post-race scrutiny could have proven otherwise, if he had eventually, slowly crossed the line unopposed? Wouldn't completing the deception have seemed far more appealing than suicide?
 
dancrane said:
The Crowhurst story is new to me, but I'll certainly be very keen to see the film, provided the dread expressed here about hokey Hollywood treatment, proves unfounded.

But there's one thing I don't understand about Crowhurst's plan, considering how grand the deception was meant to be...why, when his competitors all dropped out or sank, could he not proceed to the finish, in whatever state he might have felt Teignmouth Electron would have reached after the harsh weather he was claiming to have experienced?

It is said he intended to come in 3rd or 4th, escaping close scrutiny...but if the race committee believed until the end that he really had been round the world, what post-race scrutiny could have proven otherwise, if he had eventually, slowly crossed the line unopposed? Wouldn't completing the deception have seemed far more appealing than suicide?
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I believe he had two log books, real and imaginary. How good would the imaginary one have been if read by people who, for instance, could have found out what the weather was really like where he claimed to have been?

Mike.
 
That would be a weak point in his account...except, his whole cabin might genuinely have been swamped in the race, and a log-book might easily have been lost or damaged beyond legibility...so a boat coming back tattered, late, shambolic and missing essential paperwork would scarcely have been questioned when almost no-one else even finished.

I can see he was under unenviable, unimaginable stress as the jockey on a losing horse, made worse by his home & business teetering on the edge of repossession & collapse...

...but if he'd ever had reason to believe the cheat might succeed, was it really so unlikely he could have convinced the committee, that killing himself was preferable?
 
dancrane said:
That would be a weak point in his account...except, his whole cabin might genuinely have been swamped in the race, and a log-book might easily have been lost or damaged beyond legibility...so a boat coming back tattered, late, shambolic and missing essential paperwork would scarcely have been questioned when almost no-one else even finished.

I can see he was under unenviable, unimaginable stress as the jockey on a losing horse, made worse by his home & business teetering on the edge of repossession & collapse...

...but if he'd ever had reason to believe the cheat might succeed, was it really so unlikely he could have convinced the committee, that killing himself was preferable?
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Well, I suppose yes it must have been preferable - although slipping into the warmish sea wouldn't initially feel like "killing yourself" or at least, from the protection/seclusion of a boat, I can see that avoiding the spotlight of lots and lots of suspicious people would be a priority. Note that Moitissier dodged the spotlight too - just in a differemt way - he would have won but turned around and went to Tahiti instead. Mad men indeed! (Mad men is the title of one of the many books on the subject btw...)
 
dancrane said:
The Crowhurst story is new to me, but I'll certainly be very keen to see the film, provided the dread expressed here about hokey Hollywood treatment, proves unfounded.

But there's one thing I don't understand about Crowhurst's plan, considering how grand the deception was meant to be...why, when his competitors all dropped out or sank, could he not proceed to the finish, in whatever state he might have felt Teignmouth Electron would have reached after the harsh weather he was claiming to have experienced?

It is said he intended to come in 3rd or 4th, escaping close scrutiny...but if the race committee believed until the end that he really had been round the world, what post-race scrutiny could have proven otherwise, if he had eventually, slowly crossed the line unopposed? Wouldn't completing the deception have seemed far more appealing than suicide?
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The logbooks tell us that had lost his reason, they make very difficult reading. Putting up a good showing would have eased his worries but he was still in severe financial difficulties.

Looking at it with easy hindsight, scuppering his boat off Ireland, taking to the dinghy and coming back a hero might have saved him. He was old school though and he knew he was a liar and a cheat; it might well have been that thought that stalked and killed him.

His deception was already suspected during the race. Both Francis Chichester and Craig Rich were onto him, Crowhurst probably knew that he would not fool professional navigators when he was suddenly thrust into the forefront of the race.
 
doug748 said:
His deception was already suspected during the race. Both Francis Chichester and Craig Rich were onto him, Crowhurst probably knew that he would not fool professional navigators when he was suddenly thrust into the forefront of the race.
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He had even parked up in Brazil for some time to effect repairs or something and had some help from the locals when he should have been in the Southern Ocean.

There is no doubt that, had he been a prizewinner, his whole scheme would have come undone under scrutiny.

If he had been a Lance Armstrong type of character (other cheats are available) he would have survived the huge pressure of guilt. I think he was basically a good man and his descent into madness was his way of dealing with the inevitable.

Richard
 
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