Today
… and finished in Tahiti
Today is exactly 50 years from the day when, in 1969, Bernard Muatsesier, on the yacht Joshua, completed his unparalleled non-stop navigation with a length of 37,455 nautical miles on Tahiti.
It is difficult to imagine that any of our readers have heard anything about Muatses, but just in case we will tell you something.
The Frenchman Bernard Muatsesie was the only serious competitor to Robin Knox-Johnston during the first round-the-world single race Golden Globe Race. Although he started two months later the British, he moved along the distance on his 12-meter steel yacht much faster and had all the chances to get a prize of 5000 pounds, relying on the one who will show the best time in the race.
But in Plymouth Muathathie never came. On February 10, 1969, his yacht Joshua was seen near the Falkland Islands, already on the way to Europe, but something happened that no one expected. On March 18, Muatesye entered the raid … Cape Town and with the help of a sling threw a bank at the anchor of a tanker on the deck with the message: "Cape Horn passed February 5th … I continue the non-stop race and go to the islands of the Pacific Ocean because I feel happy at sea and maybe to save your soul. "
On June 21 of the same year, Muates'e, having made one and a half unceasing circuits around the globe, reached Tahiti. And explained to reporters:
– Talking about records is stupid – it means insulting the sea. The idea of some kind of competition is absurd. You need to understand that when a person is left alone month after month, he will evolve. Someone will say – crazy. Yes, in my own way, I lost my mind. For four months I only saw stars. My ears were not tormented by unnatural sounds. Such loneliness creates purity. I said to myself: “What the hell are you going to do in Europe?”
P.S. Muates'e fans (and there are quite a few of them) mark another date today. Exactly 25 years ago – on June 21, 1994, the body of the great French traveler and philosopher was interred. He died five days earlier.
104 Today # 9158
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