Talk:Donald Crowhurst

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[edit] Begun

My formating stinks but the facts are pretty much correct from just reading a book about it. Some of the crazyness needs flushing out but I was just trying to get something down today. (unsigned)

[edit] Good book

Is there some way we can work into this the fact that the Tomalin and Hall book, while probably not generally famous, is a truly great read? I don't want to just insert POV, but there must be a review of it out there somewhere. -- Jmabel | Talk 00:28, Nov 29, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Two sets of log books

Is the following a bit speculative?

His commitment to faking the trip seemed incomplete and self-defeating, as he continued to keep a real log in addition to his false log (emphasis added)

Wouldn't anyone creating a fake log also create a real log, so that he would know where he is (for example, to enable him to get repairs)? He could have destroyed the real log before finishing if required. Andjam 09:56, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

You're perfectly correct. As Strange Last Voyage explains, you have to keep a "real" log just to sail the boat. I've taken that comment out. — Johan the Ghost seance 11:01, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
Does the 243 stuff sound right? It seems a little too good to be true, especially if problems with another competitor caused complications. Andjam 11:37, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
Actually, the way Tomalin and Hall tell it:
  • he screwed up his cooking alcohol (fuel) allowance, and realised he didn't have as much as planned; when he worked out how much he had, it came to 243 days which he thought would be just about enough (documented in his log, which they have seen)
  • he recorded a false distance of 243 nautical miles in one day's sailing as a claimed record (documented in his cables home)
  • on his way north from the Falklands, he actually made a very fast day's run; they couldn't work it out exactly, but it was very close to 243 days (kind of a guess based on his documented real position log; as I understand it, he didn't calculate the distance himself)
  • his voyage actually lasted 243 days (very well documented).
Wow! His "expected" time was 130 days, but that was a ridiculously optimistic estimate designed to drum up sponsorship — his concern over fuel suggests that he didn't believe it himself. — Johan the Ghost seance 17:59, 9 March 2006 (UTC) (updated)
Johan, I believe on bullet point 3 you mean 243 (?nautical?) miles rather than days. It would be a minor edit but I wanted to clear it with you first!Orbitalforam 11:12, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The race article

Apologies for letting this get so overdue. I've been working intensively on the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race article, which of course is highly relevant here, and it's high time that I cross-edited the two articles to make sure that they're in step, and to see whether there's any information that they can donate to each other. Any help with this, or any constructive comments, would be much appreciated. Feel free to contribute to the peer review too (see the talk page). — Johan the Ghost seance 11:01, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I didn't arrive here as a result of the Peer Review, but because a program about him was broadcast on the ABC in Australia tonight. Andjam 11:37, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
Sorry, I wasn't very clear — I was referring to the peer review of the Golden Globe article, for which I'm just generally soliciting contributions, as per that article's talk page. — Johan the Ghost seance 13:43, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Donald Crowhurst's motives

I've edited the text a little to reflect the likelihood that Donald Crowhurst never intended to win the race by deception. By the time he broke radio silence he would have assumed that several of the other competitors would have already returned home; when he heard that Knox-Johnston had returned and that he was only (apparently) racing against Nigel Tetley for the elapsed time prize, he seems to have deliberately sailed more slowly to "lose time" against Tetley, presumably to make the finish look close, but not to win, since if he won he knew his log books would be closely scrutinised. His mental breakdown after hearing of Tetley's disaster indicates that this was a disaster for Crowhurst as well, again indicating he did not intend to win. Merely appearing to complete the circumnavigation would have given him the publicity for his company that he sought, and avoided the financial catastrophe that he feared. Tomalin and Hall reached the conclusion that his intention was not to win the prize.

There is slightly more to the "two log books" angle than has yet been discussed. Since the end of the first navigational log was left empty until later in the voyage, it appears that Crowhurst was leaving open the possibility of completing it in one of two possible ways: 1) completing it with the false circumnavigation or 2) copying the accurate positions from the second log book into the first, and then claiming that the few false position reports he had sent (which were deliberately vague and jokey) were simply a "prank". He would have needed to do this if, for example, his landing in South America had been reported, which it might well have been.

Hope this explains why I have made the changes. Orbitalforam 11:40, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Boat used for fundraising?

The sentence: "Crowhurst's boat was briefly put on display to raise funds for his family, but this fund-raising was stopped at the request of his widow." has recently been inserted. Can this be substantiated? As far as I know the boat was taken to the Caribbean after being picked up in the Atlantic; this would be an unlikely place to fundraise. If it cannot be substantiated then I suggest deleting this sentence.Orbitalforam 15:31, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Concur, I'll remove, pending citation. - Jmabel | Talk 06:28, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cinema adaptation and Aftermath section

Two things: I wonder if the films based upon this true and sad story have their place in the "aftermath" section when they should be in a "popular culture" section. I also think we need to add the French film "Les Quarantiemes Rugissants" (1982), which is a direct adaptation, although "gallicized", of the book "The Last Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst" by Ron Hall and Nicholas Tomalin. --WhiteEcho 06:19, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

–Yes, that's correct. The story was "updated" (set in the more recent past, but avoiding GPS!) as well as being given French central characters (played by Jacques Perrin and Julie Christie). There was also a 1988 film called "Horse Latitudes" loosely based on the story, and there have been several UK documentaries. Peter Nichols' book "A Voyage for Madmen" described the participation of the 9 race entrants. A radio play was also produced about the story, as part of a BBC "Radio Night".--Orbitalforam 16:54, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Teignmouth Electron photo

I uploaded a photograph of the Teignmouth Electron (300 px) as she was found abandoned in the Atlantic; however I had placed a licence tag on it indicating copyright by the London Daily Globe, and as such it is subject to speedy deletion. I selected this tag because 1) I did not know the current copyright status of the photo; and 2) there is no tag line in Wikipedia for anything from a news reporting service. The photo itself was originally taken/copyrighted by the Daily Globe in 1969, the sponsor of the race the Electron was in. So, what could be done? Is it a "fair use" image? Carajou 18:47, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

You can always try to make a case for fairuse (in which case, use the {{Non-free fair use in}} template), but I really don't see a strong one here. There really isn't any need for the article to depict the boat, and it's easy enough for us to provide an external link to a site with a picture. - Jmabel | Talk 00:31, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
My case was for a specific tag recognizing a photo from a news organization; I won't post it without a tag. I also think the site would be better with the pic than without, but that's just my opinion. Carajou 05:35, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
Surely the paper sponsoring the race was the Sunday Times, not the Daily Globe as asserted above? Perhaps there is some confusion because the title of the race was the "Golden Globe"? Orbitalforam 19:09, 11 January 2007 (UTC)