british steel yacht race

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The challenge : the official story of the British Steel Challenge

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Fifty years ago, this boat circled the world non-stop and “backwards” for the first time

• August 6, 2021
• No Comments

British Steel is the boat in which Chay Blyth made history exactly fifty years ago as the first man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop from east to west against the prevailing winds. Special boat. Blyth and British Steel’s feat, which we tell you about below, will be celebrated with a grand parade on August 6 in Southampton.

For the time, the boat designed by Robert Clark, a naval architect from Devon, was cutting-edge, designed for solo sailing and with futuristic electronics. She was built by the George Phillip & Son shipyard, located on the Dart River: she was built in the record time of four months, and was described by Don Holme in his book “The Circumnavigators” as a state-of-the-art boat, especially in terms of the use of steel in the hull.

Instead. Instead Blyth succeeded in his feat, to him all the glories . The boat had been donated to him, but was later sold and changed hands among several owners, including adventurer Pete Goss. It is currently docked at Dartmouth. Blyth, born in 1940, is now 81 years old and Sir. Sir Chay Blyth. He will be present at the parade to commemorate his feat on Aug. 6, aboard the 27-foot lance Lucky Me commanded by Christopher Waddington (who was one of the first to come aboard British Steel to help take down the sails after the boat crossed the finish line at Hamble Spit Buoy ,in ’71).

PHOTOS FROM BACK THEN

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Challenge 67 – The Story

Hrimfare carries an iconic story as one of the specially designed steel yachts in “The World’s Toughest Yacht Race" – The Global Challenge – initiated by Sir Chay Blyth in 1992.  At the time, it was the ultimate sailing challenge for amateur sailors and is still considered one of the most iconic sailing competition races. Ten identical Challenge 67-foot yachts were built and crewed by ordinary men and women and sailed westwards around the world, against prevailing winds and currents. The route and race, referred to as the "wrong way" covered a distance of some 29,000 nm (54,000 km). At the time, it was the ultimate sailing challenge for amateur sailors. 

One professional skipper and 13 amateur crew members.

Hrimfare in her first role...as Toshiba, competing in the world's toughest race. From the BT Global Challenge 2000-2001. Cred Mark Denton

A 1991 design of a solid ice-classified steel yacht with comfort for 14 crew members.

The Global Challenge was started by Sir Chay Blyth in 1989. It was held every four years, and took a fleet of one-design steel yachts, crewed by ordinary men and women who have paid to take part, round Cape Horn and through the Southern Ocean where winds can reach 70 kn (35 m/sec).

In 1971, yachtsman Sir Chay Blyth CBE, BEM, became the first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world. Credit: Getty 

The seeds of the race were sown in Blyth's previous sailing exploits. In 1970/71 he became the first person to sail alone round the world westabout in the yacht British Steel. The practicality of training people who had never sailed before was demonstrated during the 1973/74 Whitbread Around the World race, when Blyth had raced Great Britain II with a crew from the Parachute Regiment. 

The first race started from Southampton in September 1992 with 10 identical Challenge 67 ft.

From BT Global Challenge 2000-01. Cred: Mark Denton

A wet and windy video from back in the days...

MORE ABOUT SY HRIMFARE – THE YACHT

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David Grieves, 87: Vice-chairman who oversaw the British Steel yacht race

In the 1980s it was widely accepted that British Steel was an overstaffed company that was making losses of, at one point, up to £1 billion in a year. A tough chief executive, Sir Robert Scholey, known as Black Bob, was appointed. He cut the workforce from 250,000 to 52,000 over two years and proceeded to steer the company through privatisation and into profit. Alongside Bob, as the managing director of personnel and social policy, and later as vice-chairman, strode David Grieves, as skilled and disarming a negotiator as Scholey was combative.

During the restructuring of the industry in the early 1980s, the steelworks at Ravenscraig in Lanarkshire, Shotton in Flintshire and Corby in Northamptonshire were among those closed. David was tasked with attracting new

• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Chay Blyth round-the-world yacht race reunion

• January 15, 2013

200 to attend 20th anniversary reunion for Chay Blyth's '92-93 'wrong way' round-the-world British Steel Challenge yacht race

Photo: Skippers on parade in 1991 at St Katherine’s Dock – in their normal work clothes. Picturd (left to right): Vivien Cherry, Richard Tudor (sailmaker), Will Sutherland, Pete Goss, Ian MacGillivray, Alec Honey (who dropped out before the race), Adrian Donovan, Mike Golding (fireman), John Chittenden and yacht surveyor Paul Jeffes.

More than 200 people have signed up to attend a 20th anniversary reunion this week for skippers of crew from Chay Blyth’s 1992-93 ‘wrong way’ round-the-world British Steel Challenge yacht race, plus the four subsequent Global Challenge races.

The event will take place at the London Boat Show on Saturday 19 January, with Chay Blyth attending, and race veterans coming from as far away as Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, USA and all across Europe.

It was on Saturday 26 September 1992 that ten 67ft steel yachts set off from Southampton for Rio de Janeiro, on the first 5,300-mile leg of the epic 28,000-mile race. The only other stops for the amateur sailors were Hobart, Tasmania, and Cape Town.

The Daily Mail dubbed the event ‘The Mid-life Crisis Challenge’ and some in the yachting establishment poured scorn on the project, saying it was foolhardy and irresponsible to send greenhorns into the Southern Ocean westabout around Cape Horn. Chay called the event ‘the toughest yacht race ever – an extraordinary adventure for ordinary people.’

It cost £14,850 – or about 50p a mile – to sign up for the whole race – and there was a long waiting list. There was a two-year training programme with some crews enduring Force 10 winds in the English Channel in winter.

Most of the sailors were trained by Pete Goss, later appointed one of the skippers. Goss and Mike Golding are two of the skippers who will be absent from the reunion. The former is currently kayaking around Hobart and Golding is racing up the Atlantic on the final stretch of the solo, non-stopVendee Globe round the world race.

The boat show reunion includes plans for an auction of Global Challenge memorabilia, in aid of Save the Children, plus screening of videos from the Challenge event and a buffet dinner. Two ex-Global Challenge yachts, Challenger 3/Sarah, operated by The Tall Ships Youth Trust, and Catzero, managed by the sail training charity, CatZero, are also at the show on the marina berth M163/4.

The organizer is sailing journalists Barry Pickthall who wrote a book on the event. Barry says: “We have not managed to track down every crew member, so if you are still in contact with your  crew-mates, please tell them, we don’t want anyone to miss out!”

Tickets for the reunion are £20, including the buffet dinner, if you already have a boat show ticket, or £30 including the boat show. The Reunion buffet dinner will take place in the Platinum Suite level 3, (follow signs for the BMF/RYA Lounge) starting at 19:00, when the Show closes, and will continue until 23:00.

To book, go to  www.londonboatshow.com , click on the Show Tickets – Buy Now! and select 19 January and type in the promotional code  BTG. If you have a show ticket already use the promotional code BTGE. The deadline for booking is Thursday.

www.facebook.com/Challenge20yearReunion

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British Steel Challenge and Global Challenge at the London Boat Show

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Chay Blyth: 50 years since his Impossible Voyage

• Katy Stickland
• July 9, 2021

50 years ago Chay Blyth became the first person to sail solo, non-stop, westwards around the world. Dee Caffari, the first woman to emulate his record, looks back at his achievement

Chay Blyth finished his solo non-stop westwards circumnavigation around the world on 6 August 1971. Credit: Getty

Before the attempt, Sir Francis Chichester commented that he thought the voyage was impossible, and on completion it became known as ‘The Impossible Voyage’, writes Dee Caffari

The Times newspaper in London described it as, ‘The most outstanding passage ever made by one man alone’.

It is still considered the toughest challenge in sailing; only five people have ever managed it, a number which becomes more significant when compared to the 12 people who have walked on the moon.

The plan began in earnest to sail the ‘wrong way’ round the world in 1969.

It was not until 18 October 1970 that Chay Blyth departed from Southampton on board the 59ft ketch, British Steel .

His voyage had never been done before: to sail single-handed, non-stop, westwards around the world.

Blyth returned to a hero’s welcome 292 days later .

Thousands cheered and their Royal Highnesses Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne were there to greet him as was the then prime minister, Edward Heath.

Chay Blyth had become the first person to sail non-stop, around the world against the prevailing winds and currents .

Chay Blyth’s record breaking 59ft yacht British Steel. Credit: Getty

In recognition of his impressive achievement, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Sponsorship was vital to the success of the venture and Chay secured the backing of The British Steel Corporation.

This experience of gaining and developing a relationship with a major corporation was to shape not only Chay’s personal exploits in the following years but also his business initiatives too.

Those skills were something he happily passed on and I remember receiving advice from Chay about business meetings and how the world of corporate sponsorship worked during regular chats when I was preparing for my solo voyage .

Preparation for such a voyage is an endless task with phone calls, meetings, challenges and hurdles all to be overcome.

There are infinite decisions that need making and as you are the only sailor involved, you are the only one that can make the final decision.

The hours of commuting from boatyard to boardroom and back again gives you plenty of time to think.

Continues below…

40th anniversary of Chay Blyth’s return

Sailed into Southampton in 1971

Dee Caffari makes history

First woman to sail solo round the world both ways

Dee Caffari: 6 times around the world; 600 times around the garden

Like all of us, Dee Caffari had to abandon her sailing plans when COVID-19 hit. Budding journalist Harry Sowerby talks…

Chay, and his wife Maureen, worked tirelessly through their tasks.

I also remember driving back and forth during my preparation, making calls and endless lists. It’s not something that can be done alone.

You need a support network and those closest to you are crucial in fulfilling that role.

Without their support the dream never becomes a reality.

As departure day came closer Chay talked about it being not possible to be completely ready as there was always last-minute organised chaos.

The final night ashore you are unable to relax, your mind racing through final checklists, mixed with nerves and anxiety.

No one can take any more days of tension and pressure – all you want is the start line.

Chay recalled his emotions at his start: ‘I think you are beyond feeling, you don’t feel anything.’

As mentor for my ‘Impossible Voyage’ in 2005/6 , his parting words to me as I set off, were to remind me not to cry – it had been done before.

Asked how I felt, I think, like Chay, I was too busy initially to feel anything.

Then it was overwhelming. I was heading towards the Lizard Lighthouse, the stopwatch started and I was swamped with the reality of what I had chosen to undertake.

It took a while to settle into a routine.

Calms and light airs were conditions that both Chay and I seemed to find most difficult to tolerate.

Chay often talked to himself, a trait I can relate to.

It is like giving yourself a running commentary or a set of instructions out loud to follow.

The benefits are two-fold.

First it gives you confidence in your decisions on what actions to take.

It also feels like you have some dialogue or company while you do it.

Both of us were plagued with autopilot issues and had to constantly fix or hand steer in certain conditions, testing our resolve.

Chay had his army and para training to draw upon, and I had my stubbornness and tenacity, but both of us were determined to see things through.

A common topic that comes up no matter whose sailing memoirs you read are the constant references to food.

In the preparation phase the focus is all on performance, sails, navigation, boat systems and weather.

Sir Chay Blyth with Dee Caffari after finishing her own solo Impossible Voyage in 2006. Credit: Getty

But the reality is that when you are out there, it is the fuel you consume that keeps you going.

That, and sleep or rather the lack of it at times, and how that affects your mood in difficult circumstances.

Recognising how you react at these times, so you can do something about it, is something I probably underestimated in my voyage, despite having read about it in Chay’s book.

My relationship with Sir Chay Blyth started when I was one of his skippers in the 2004 Global Challenge Race – ‘The World’s Toughest Yacht Race’ .

He planted the solo non-stop seed in my mind during the Cape Town stop-over, while we were chatting after dinner.

Since his Impossible Voyage , only three men had followed in his footsteps, Mike Golding, Philippe Monnet and Jean-Luc Van den Heede.

In Chay’s opinion it was only a matter of time before a woman would do it, so why shouldn’t it be me?

Sir Chay Blyth may not have directly passed on his tips and techniques for dealing with mountainous seas and gale force headwinds, but the 14 years’ experience of sailing on Global Challenge races and the teams he put together to compete in them clearly benefited me .

I trusted their confidence and Blyth’s belief in me and my abilities.

When I crossed the finish line 15 years ago, having sailed myself into the history books following in Sir Chay Blyth’s footsteps, the first call I made was to Chay.

I was standing on deck in the rain with the wind blowing 50 knots and the phone inside my hood.

He had heard the news and had popped the Champagne cork and he sounded proud.

As he wrote in the foreword of my book published the following year: ‘The Impossible Voyage may no longer be impossible, but it remains hard, very, very hard.’

Practical Boat Owner

• Digital edition

Chay Blyth round-the-world yacht race reunion

• Laura Hodgetts
• January 16, 2013

More than 200 people have signed up to attend a 20th anniversary reunion

Skippers on parade in 1991 at St Katherine's Dock - in their normal work clothes. Pictured (left to right): Vivien Cherry, Richard Tudor (sailmaker), Will Sutherland, Pete Goss, Ian MacGillivray, Alec Honey (who dropped out before the race), Adrian Donovan, Mike Golding (fireman), John Chittenden and yacht surveyor Paul Jeffes.

Hundreds of people will be gathering at the London Boat Show 2013 this Saturday to celebrate sailing round the world ‘the wrong way’ 20 years ago.

The event is for skippers and crew from Chay Blyth’s 1992-93 British Steel Challenge yacht race, plus the four subsequent Global Challenge races.

It is taking place at the Tullett Prebon London Boat Show on Saturday 19 January, with Sir Chay Blyth attending.

Race veterans are coming from as far away as Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, USA and all across Europe.

It was on Saturday 26 September 1992 that ten 67ft steel yachts set off from Southampton for Rio de Janeiro, on the first 5,300-mile leg of the epic 28,000-mile race. The only other stops for the amateur sailors were Hobart, Tasmania, and Cape Town.

The Daily Mail dubbed the event ‘The Mid-life Crisis Challenge’ and some in the yachting establishment poured scorn on the project, saying it was foolhardy and irresponsible to send greenhorns into the Southern Ocean west-about around Cape Horn.

Chay called the event ‘the toughest yacht race ever – an extraordinary adventure for ordinary people.’

It cost £14,850 – or about 50p a mile – to sign up for the whole race – and there was a long waiting list. There was a two-year training programme with some crews enduring Force 10 winds in the English Channel in winter.

Most of the sailors were trained by Pete Goss, later appointed one of the skippers. Goss and Mike Golding are two of the skippers who will be absent from the reunion. The former is currently kayaking around Hobart and Golding is racing up the Atlantic on the final stretch of the solo, non-stopVendee Globe round the world race.

The Boat Show reunion includes plans for an auction of Global Challenge memorabilia, in aid of Save the Children, plus screening of videos from the Challenge events, and a buffet dinner.

Two ex-Global Challenge yachts,  Challenger 3/Sarah , operated by The Tall Ships Youth Trust, and  Catzero , managed by the sail training charity, CatZero, are also at the show on the marina berth M163/4. 

The organiser is sailing journalist Barry Pickthall who wrote the book ‘No Guts – No Glory’ on the event. Barry says: ‘We have not managed to track down every crew member, so if you are still in contact with your  crew-mates, please tell them, we don’t want anyone to miss out!’

Tickets for the reunion are £20, including the buffet dinner, if you already have a boat show ticket, or £30 including the boat show. The Reunion buffet dinner will take place in the Platinum Suite level 3, (follow signs for the BMF/RYA Lounge) starting at 7pm, when the Show closes, and will continue until 11pm.

To book, visit the show website , click on the Show Tickets – Buy Now! and select 19 January and type in the promotional code BTG.

If you have a show ticket already use the promotional code BTGE. 

The deadline for booking is Friday.

To find out more call Barry Pickthall on +44 (0)7768 395719 or email [email protected]

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Pete’s other sailing exploits include training and leading a previously inexperienced crew of fourteen through what is generally held to be ‘the world’s toughest yacht race’ – the British Steel Challenge (now known as the Global Challenge).

The route goes the ‘wrong way’ around the world, against the prevailing winds and currents. The criteria for the race was to construct ten identical boats all to be crewed by novice sailors and Pete whittled down the entrants to 120, then split them into ten teams of 12.

Pete spent three years as training skipper for the whole fleet of 120 amateurs, working alongside them day and night to ensure they understood every aspect of their particular boat and were fully prepared for the challenges they were about to face.

It was thanks to this incredible passion and attention to detail that Pete proudly went on to lead his own team of 12 into third place aboard their boat Hofbrau.

Sir Chay Blyth

Adventurer, businessman – an inspiration.

Global Challenge

Imagine being numb with cold. Imagine biting 70mph winds that sting your face as you lumber about the deck rollercoasting its way over 50-foot waves. Imagine hanging on for your life as a wall of freezing water crashes on top of you. Imagine doing this for five weeks at a time. This was Global Challenge, the world’s toughest yacht race. Each yacht was crewed by ordinary men and women led by a professional skipper. Every single crew member set out to push themselves to the limit and to have the adventure of their lives.

It was tough because they raced ‘the wrong way’ around the world – against the prevailing winds and currents. En route they stopped in Buenos Aires, Wellington, Sydney, Cape Town, Boston and La Rochelle before returning to Portsmouth ten months later. Conditions ranged from the calms and energy-sapping heat of the doldrums to the icebergs, storms and monumental seas of the southern oceans.

Global Challenge was more than just a yacht race. It brought together the business community, a major charity – Save the Children, the media and tens of thousands of supporters as well as the crews. Over 120 organisations participated in the event through sponsorships and partnerships. Spectators from around the world visited the ports of call and tracked the event on the race website and through coverage in the world’s media.

The British Steel Challenge took place in 1992-3 to critical acclaim from journalists, sponsors and participants and changed the face of yachting forever. The race was followed by two successive BT Global Challenge races in 1996/7 and 2000/2001. Sadly, a downturn in the sponsorship market meant that the 2004/2005 Global Challenge race set off without a title sponsor.

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Sailing: British Steel Challenge

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Only 28,000 miles to go: with the Needles beckoning, Coopers and Lybrand take an early lead in the British Steel Challenge round-the-world yacht race yesterday, when 10 boats set off from the Solent on the first leg to Rio de Janeiro. Report, page 27

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Tributes paid to legendary round-the-world yachtsman Richard Tudor

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TRIBUTES have been paid to a legendary round-the-world yachtsman who passed away on New Year’s Eve.

Pwllheli’s Richard Tudor was an inspirational figure in sailing and across a wide spectrum of interests in boats.

Tudor, who died at the age of 64 and leaves wife Falmai, was brought up in Pwllheli after being born in Llandrindod Wells, Powys.

He twice skippered vessels in the British Steel Global Challenge dubbed the ‘World’s Toughest Yacht Race’, taking on prevailing winds and currents in a 28,000-mile test of endurance.

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Tudor, who also led expeditions to the Artic Circle and competed in regattas around the world, was a former club commodore at Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club and an active committee member.

Current commodore Mark H Thompson said: “On behalf of the flag officers and members of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club, I have sent our heartfelt condolences to Falmai and the Tudor family, on the passing of Richard.

“He made such an incredible impact on all our lives. Rest in peace my friend.”

Richard started sailing at a very early age and built his first dinghy from kit in the living room at home. He competed in championships travelling from venue to venue with the red mirror dinghy, Madryn, on top of his mother’s Mini.

With his father Huw also a former commodore, sailing was in Richard’s blood and after serving an apprenticeship with North Sails he ventured into business by buying Pwllheli business Sail Care and running it as Tudor Sail Makers.

He sailed his first Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association event in 1976 with Anthony Jones and completed a Fastnet race in 1977 and 1981, with many more to follow. One on Panache with an all Pwllheli crew including his former tutor Gwyndaf Hughes.

But his dream was long distance offshore racing and he wanted to compete in the round the world Volvo Ocean Race.

His dream came true when he was offered the skipper role on British Steel, the flagship for the British Steel Global Challenge in 1992-93.

Things looked great, winning the first leg to Rio, a highlight of the stop-over a chance to meet Ronnie Biggs, the great train robber.

But disaster struck on the second leg as the fleet raced past Cape Horn. Just before Christmas, the mast came down because of a fault in the forestay fitting on the stem head. The rest of the fleet was alerted to the fault and many boats were fitted with new masts at the next stop-over.

The story of their 3,000 miles struggle to New Zealand/Australia is well documented. Fuel was replenished from a ship en-route. A stop in Chatham Islands where he was given a mast on condition that he dug it up from the ground in some scrub land. The much smaller mast was however lashed onto the remains of the boom that had been retrieved from the ocean.

What is not known, however, is Richard’s heroism being in the water for hours on end, cutting the rigging that was endangering the boat itself. The crew of British Steel continue to meet every year, on the anniversary of the dismasting over 30 years ago.

The next big adventure for Richard was as skipper of Nuclear Electric, another circumnavigation as skipper in 1996-97. He was the toast of the town when she was tied up to the pontoon on the marina. There were so many people wanting to see this fantastic vessel that the pontoon almost sank, and people had to be limited.

These two circumnavigations were massive achievements for a young man.

Richard then led expeditions to the Artic Circle and to many other warmer and more exotic places.

He was also part of the Team Phillips experimental trimaran which sank in the North Atlantic and he and the crew were rescued by a passing ship, just as the boat fell apart and sank. He ended up in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

He competed in Regattas around the world, was part of the Corwynt Cymru Team winning Cork Week and Round Ireland.

He still holds the record for the best time ever on his Three Peaks race win in 1998 and was a winning skipper on the Round Britain and Ireland race.

Richard opened the Pwllheli Marina in 1993, and the plaque is in the reception. He was a director of Porth Pwllheli, a consortium of local people wanting to develop Pwllheli into a world-renowned Marina.

It is maintained to this day that this forced the hand of Dwyfor Council to develop what is now known as Hafan Pwllheli.

He was asked to set up a new Marine College in Pwllheli – something he had campaigned for – and took a lecturer’s role passing on his marine engineering skills to students.

His anchor was now firmly ashore, and he met Falmai and they had a daughter Leus and son Iago.

Richard has been a member of Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli from the time of their very first building – they are now in their fifth home – and was commodore in 2000 to 2002 and president in 2006 to 2008.

He was instrumental in bringing the One Ton Cup to Pwllheli and worked tirelessly on the Academy project, which all started in 2003.

He was an active board member of Plas Heli and was involved with all aspects of its development.

He still enjoyed sailing until a few years ago, jumping at any opportunity to be on the water. He was a member of the Jackknife team on that fantastic race from Dun Laoghaire to Dingle where top speeds were achieved on the spinnaker run down to Tuskar.

In a tribute, to mark his 2021 Lifetime Contribution award, the club wrote: “What you get with Richard on the boat is great seamanship, he can spot a problem and fix it before it becomes a drama.

“It is fantastic to see Iago and Richard sailing together. It is extraordinary to have three sets of father and sons, Andrew and Sam, Richard and Iago and Stephen and Thomas, all competing together on the same boat – truly memorable!

“His contribution to our sailing and boating is phenomenal, what we take for granted would not be possible without the work that Richard does.”

Famous yachtsman Sir Chay Blyth explained: “He was an inspirational leader, deeply respected and loved by his crew. They suffered one of the ultimate misfortunes in a yacht race of losing their mast in the Southern Ocean at a point virtually the furthest from land of anywhere on the planet. In adversity the true mettle of people comes out. When the rigging needed cutting from the yacht it was Richard who went over the side with bolt cutters to free the debris from the yacht. Richard had the technical expertise to know what had to be done.

“He got the yacht and all his crew back safely from the depths of the Southern Ocean safely to the Chatham Islands and then on to Wellington.

“A truly remarkable and outstanding sailor.”

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