Your Top 25 Cruising Sailors.

toad_oftoadhall

toad_oftoadhall

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I quite enjoyed reading YM's take on the top 25 cruising sailors.

Mine would differ, I'd put Tillman in, and (possibly) remove the (excellent) Cunliffe and Peyton.

It was great to see Shepton in there.

What about Frank Dye? Or Roger Taylor, the Simple Sailor? AJ A J Mackinnon? Robin Lee Graham?

For me my number one, first on the list would be Moitessier (first non-stop around the world, depending on your definition of "non-stop around the world").

Who would be in *your* list?
 
toad_oftoadhall said:
Who would be in *your* list?
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This guy

Eric_Tabarly.JPG
 
toad_oftoadhall said:
I quite enjoyed reading YM's take on the top 25 cruising sailors.

Mine would differ, I'd put Tillman in, and (possibly) remove the (excellent) Cunliffe and Peyton.

It was great to see Shepton in there.

What about Frank Dye? Or Roger Taylor, the Simple Sailor? AJ A J Mackinnon? Robin Lee Graham?

For me my number one, first on the list would be Moitessier (first non-stop around the world, depending on your definition of "non-stop around the world").

Who would be in *your* list?
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Not sen the list but my personal favourites are the classics. Slocum, Chichester, Knox Johnston.. Etc. Not as intrigued by the the racers, except dame ellens 1st book was very inspirational, tbh I prefer the pioneers, the apparent purists.

But my personal favourites pure sailors (as opposed to adventurers that happen to sail) are moitessier, blondie and (now)roger Taylor.
 
I would have difficulty naming ten cruising sailors off the top of my head.

I havn't seen the list. Do I have to buy the magazine?

My important question is . . . . . .

Were any of them innocent of the sin of Racing?
 
I guess it depends on the rather vague (probably deliberately) definition of "top", but I'd have a hard time putting Sandy Mackinnon in such a list. An adventurer and storyteller he may be, but can you call someone a sailor without even the faintest idea that the Channel has tides in it?

Pete
 
toad_oftoadhall said:
I quite enjoyed reading YM's take on the top 25 cruising sailors.

Mine would differ, I'd put Tillman in, and (possibly) remove the (excellent) Cunliffe and Peyton.

It was great to see Shepton in there.

What about Frank Dye? Or Roger Taylor, the Simple Sailor? AJ A J Mackinnon? Robin Lee Graham?

For me my number one, first on the list would be Moitessier (first non-stop around the world, depending on your definition of "non-stop around the world").

Who would be in *your* list?
Click to expand...

Not Tilman, he regarded boats as expendable tools to get him to mountains, and his reputation as a sailor was not good.

Agree with Moitessier though
 
I'm not sure any of the illustrious names mentioned so far could really be defined as cruising yachtsmen.

I can't imagine any of them quietly pottering down to Osborne Bay on a Saturday in order to enjoy a pleasant lunch in the cockpit, followed by a nice snooze, before continuing on to Cowes and finding somewhere for a good dinner. ;)
 
jwilson said:
Not Tilman, he regarded boats as expendable tools to get him to mountains, and his reputation as a sailor was not good.

Agree with Moitessier though
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Gosh, an Expert has graced us with his presence and imparted his knowledge and wisdom, ex cathedra.

Are you a member of the Royal Cruising Club?
Have you been awarded the RCC Challenge Cup?
Have you been awarded the Blue Water Medal of the Cruising Club of America?

Do you, in fact, know anything about the subject that you have chosen to opine on?

If you did, you would know that the answer in Tilman's case was "yes" to all three, which suggests that "his reputation as a sailor" was very good indeed.

Moitessier on the other hand wrecked his last boat in a popular anchorage on the coast of California through his own sheer laziness and incompetence and walked away without trying to recover the boat that he had wrecked.

Moitessier managed to wreck three boats, in circumstances that were not particularly challenging.

Tilman sailed to some of the most God-forsaken places on earth, and lost two.

You keep your hero and I'll keep mine.
 
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jwilson said:
Not Tilman, he regarded boats as expendable tools....
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You should read Tilman and the superhuman efforts he made to save Mischief and the grief he felt at her loss:

“For me it was the loss of more than a yacht. I felt like one who had first betrayed and then deserted a stricken friend ..."
 
Minn said:
Gosh, an Expert has graced us with his presence and imparted his knowledge and wisdom, ex cathedra.

Are you a member of the Royal Cruising Club?
Have you been awarded the RCC Challenge Cup?
Have you been awarded the Blue Water Medal of the Cruising Club of America?

Do you, in fact, know anything at all about the subject?

If you did, you would know that the answer in Tilman's case was "yes" to all three, which suggests that "his reputation as a sailor" was very good indeed.

Moitessier on the other hand wrecked his boat in a popular ahncorage on the coast of California through his own sheer laziness and incompetence and walked away.

I'd stick to the armchair, if I were you.
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OK, I'm currently sitting in a chair in slightly draughty office, looking out at the harbour, but I have done a bit, and occasionally when I get the chance still do. I value the "die like a gentleman" ethic of Hasler, Tilman etc., and have read much of them, but too many people have commented on Tilman's somewhat dubious ideas of maintenance and sail trim to regard him as an exemplar for cruising.

Early on Moitessier was undoubtedly very careless, but he learnt, and many other boats ended up on the same beach the same day as Joshua.

For me it is more that Moitessier sailed for the sailing, Tilman to get to mountains.

Is the cold San Mig still good in the Subic Bay YC - though I preferred the very casual old club before the palatial new one was built? And do boats still hit the reef off Cubi Point?
 
jwilson said:
OK, I'm currently sitting in a chair in slightly draughty office, looking out at the harbour, but I have done a bit, and occasionally when I get the chance still do. I value the "die like a gentleman" ethic of Hasler, Tilman etc., and have read much of them, but too many people have commented on Tilman's somewhat dubious ideas of maintenance and sail trim to regard him as an exemplar for cruising.

Early on Moitessier was undoubtedly very careless, but he learnt, and many other boats ended up on the same beach the same day as Joshua.

For me it is more that Moitessier sailed for the sailing, Tilman to get to mountains.

Is the cold San Mig still good in the Subic Bay YC - though I preferred the very casual old club before the palatial new one was built? And do boats still hit the reef off Cubi Point?
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Moitessier- proved his allegiance when he thought to himself Argh F#$k it im off for another lap... and kept going, Sorry but theres a definite love for the open sea and complete freedom that the Earth can provide to ones soul
 
RT McMullen (who can be said to have invented the idea of cruising in small yachts)
Claud Worth
Joshua Slocum
JC Voss
GHP Mulhauser
Conor O'Brien
WA Robinson
EG Martin
Harry Pigeon
RT Graham
Vito Dumas
HG Hasler (thanks to JW Wilson for the reminder)
The Hiscocks (count for two)
The Pyes (ditto)
The Smeetons (ditto)
HW Tilman
Peter Tangvald (thanks to Nicholas 123)
David Lewis
Ronnie Andrews
Robin Knox-Johnson
Arved Fuchs

I am tempted to stick Erling Tambs and Arthur Ransome in the list, not because of the sailing they did but because of the influence they have had...but if I did that I'd have to let Gerbault and Moitessier in, so on reflection I won't.
 
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nauticalnomad said:
Moitessier- proved his allegiance when he thought to himself Argh F#$k it im off for another lap... and kept going, Sorry but theres a definite love for the open sea and complete freedom that the Earth can provide to ones soul
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I wrestle with this. I've read "The Long Way" and Moitessier's words convinced me that he was the ultimate soul sailor who carried on around the world for nothing more than the love of it.

But in quiet moments the cynic in me often ponders that by doing so he crossed his outbound longitute before RKJ crossed his, and he must have known this would happen.

From her books Ellen Macarthur seems to be another who sails because she loves being alone on the ocean. In her books she always seems reluctant to make landfalls. Which, to my mind, puts her and Moitessier in the same category on that score.

Prv: I think you've got me on Sandy Mackinnon. If he'd done a lifetime of long river sailing trips that's one thing. But *one*? Maybe not.

EDIT: On more thought. Would Simon Richardson make a list of top 25 people who would have been on people's top 25 cruising sailors list, if they'd made it. IYSWIM.
 
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Minn said:
I have tried to read Moitessier- I really have - but the bullsxxt keeps shining through.

Suspect he was trying to imitate Gerbault, the originator of the French School of messing about in boats and writing about it in a high-falutin way.
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I know what you mean. But I give him the benifit of the doubt and I reckon he really *was* a poet, even if it seems affected at times.

I've never found out who translates Moitessier's books. I assume they were written in French and translated?

Giving all his royalties to the Pope had a certain amount of class IMHO.
 
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