Suhaili

Painting – Oil on Canvas Board
91 x 61 cm

The painting depicts Robin Knox-Johnston gasketting the mainsail on Suhaili as conditions deteriorate in the Southern Ocean during the 1968/69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Solo Race. The tiller is lashed, as the vanes for the self steering gear had failed and been removed earlier in the voyage.

Suhaili, though looking shabby, after months of voyaging, proved a very capable vessel winning this round the world solo race, and undertaking many other lengthy sea voyages. An interesting account of this amazing race is provided in Peter Nichols – A Voyage For Madmen and details on Sir Robin Knox-Johnson’s sailing life are provided on his website

Refer also to the painting on this site of Joshua sailed by Bernard Moitessier, another entrant in this race.

Specifications:
Type: 32ft Bermudan Ketch
Designed by William Atkins based on the Norwegian lifeboat designs of Colin Archer