The Philosopher and the Handyman: The Race Around the World - Part 1

Summary

Podcast Summary: Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Episode: The Philosopher and the Handyman: The Race Around the World – Part 1

Release Date: February 20, 2026
Host: Tim Harford
Producer: Pushkin Industries

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Overview

This gripping episode recounts the first-ever solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race: the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe. Tim Harford follows two key rivals—Britain’s Robin Knox-Johnston, the pragmatic "handyman," and France’s Bernard Moitessier, the philosophical sailor—contrasting their personalities, approaches to sailing, and philosophies of challenge. The episode explores not only the technical and physical tests of such a voyage, but delves deeply into the different ways these men sought meaning in adventure and maintenance, both of their vessels and themselves.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Leaking Boat

• [01:05–03:56]
  The episode opens with Robin Knox-Johnston discovering a dangerous leak in his wooden yacht, Suhaili, mid-ocean near Cape Verde. Unable to visit a port, he must attempt an underwater repair by himself—a task complicated by persistent leaks and even the appearance of a shark.
• Quote:
  “After half an hour of fruitless effort, I climb back on board and try to think of some other way of doing the job.”
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [03:56]

2. A Race is Born: The Golden Globe

• [05:31–07:02]
  Tim describes the historical background—previous solo circumnavigations always allowed for stops. A casual remark over breakfast pushes Knox-Johnston to attempt a non-stop trip, motivated in part by a desire for British pride and a place in history.
• Quote:
  “That’s about all there’s left to do now kept turning in my mind.”
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [06:48]

3. Contrasting Competitors: The Handyman vs. the Philosopher

• [07:02–12:31]
  Knox-Johnston is painted as traditional and practical, his boat an accidental reflection of his own conservative, reliable nature. In contrast, Bernard Moitessier, celebrated adventurer and writer, treats the proposed “race” with philosophical disdain.
• Quote (Moitessier):
  “I disapprove of a race. It makes you lose sight of the essential. A voyage to your own outer limits... the search for a profound truth with as sole witnesses the sea, the wind, the boat, the infinitely big, the infinitely small.” [12:06]

4. Approaches to Preparation and Maintenance

• [16:56–20:51]
  Both sailors prepare, but in entirely opposite ways. Knox-Johnston overloads Suhaili with every conceivable repair tool and spare part, even as the boat sits two inches lower under the weight. Moitessier, meanwhile, sheds weight, removing anything unnecessary to focus on simplicity and self-sufficiency, even rejecting a radio, instead using a slingshot to send messages to passing ships.
• Quote:
  “A good slingshot is worth all the transmitters in the world.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [20:51]

5. Life at Sea: Philosophy vs. Pragmatism in Action

• [21:38–23:11]
  Detailed daily logs sharply contrast their priorities:
  • Knox-Johnston: endless maintenance, repairs, cleaning, and practical ingenuity (e.g., using logbook pages to measure spark plug gaps [26:15]).
  • Moitessier: communing with the sea, observing wildlife, meditating, and finding joy in solitude and small moments.
• Memorable moments:
  • Moitessier learns to alter course from porpoises’ behavior, narrowly avoiding disaster. [24:05–24:34]

6. Motivation, Competition, and Uncertainties

• [26:36–27:30]
  Knox-Johnston is plagued by uncertainty, fearing the faster, unseen Moitessier is ahead, while Moitessier continues to shed material goods, even food he dislikes, emphasizing his minimalism and disinterest in competition.

• Quotes:

  • Knox-Johnston:
    “Come on, God, give me a bloody break.… I’ll bet the Frenchman is having beautiful westerlies.” [26:36], [27:03]
  • Moitessier:
    “If we are indeed racing, I do not feel that it is against other sailors and other boats.” [28:09]

7. The Philosophy of Maintenance

• [32:19–34:59]
  Tim, referencing Stewart Brand, underscores the unglamorous but essential role of maintenance. Knox-Johnston personifies the “skilled maintainer,” while Moitessier’s steel boat and minimalist choices reduce maintenance needs.
• Quote:
  “Given a choice between something simple and something complicated, choose what is simple without hesitation. Sooner or later, what is complicated will almost always lead to problems.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [34:43]

8. Triumphs, Temptations, and Turning Points

• [35:08–39:25]
  • Knox-Johnston rounds Cape Horn, briefly tempted to keep circling the globe rather than return home—a longing for continued challenge.
  • Moitessier, after rounding Cape Horn, makes a radical decision: rather than return and claim victory, he continues towards the Pacific islands, rejecting both the cash prize and the trappings of glory.
• Memorable moment:
  Moitessier’s slingshot message to the Sunday Times:
  “I am continuing non stop towards the Pacific islands because I am happy at sea and perhaps also to save my soul.” [40:30]

9. Resolution and Reflection

• [40:43–43:48]
  • Knox-Johnston finishes triumphantly as the first person to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation, but expresses empathy for Moitessier’s choice.
  • The two men’s mutual respect is highlighted—their different paths yielding mutual understanding and friendship.
• Quotes:
  • Knox-Johnston: “No, [Moitessier] is not mad. I had quite similar urges.” [41:38]
  • Moitessier: “If I’d won, it would have been a grave injustice, as Knox Johnston’s boat was much smaller and much less sound.” [42:31]

10. Broader Lessons: Two Ways to ‘Win’—and to Live

• [43:48–end]
  • Tim frames the story as two different philosophies:
    1. Master the given rules (Knox-Johnston’s path), or
    2. Make up your own rules, seeking fulfillment outside the competition (Moitessier’s path).
  • The race is not over, though: other competitors remain, and “the glitter of the Golden Globe was about to turn dark”—setting up a sequel.

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “After half an hour of fruitless effort, I climb back on board and try to think of some other way of doing the job.”
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [03:56]

• "You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear...toward the open sea it goes. That’s all."
  — Bernard Moitessier [11:13]

• “I disapprove of a race. It makes you lose sight of the essential.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [12:06]

• “Money, alas, yes, money. More or less money is necessary.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [12:59]

• “A good slingshot is worth all the transmitters in the world.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [20:51]

• "Come on, God, give me a bloody break. It’s been nothing but calms or gales for weeks."
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [26:36]

• "If we are indeed racing, I do not feel that it is against other sailors and other boats."
  — Bernard Moitessier [28:09]

• "Given a choice between something simple and something complicated, choose what is simple without hesitation."
  — Bernard Moitessier [34:43]

• "My first impulse on rounding the Horn was to keep on going east...almost as if to say, I’ve beaten you and now I’ll go round again to prove it."
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [37:20]

• “I am continuing non stop towards the Pacific islands because I am happy at sea and perhaps also to save my soul.”
  — Bernard Moitessier [40:30]

• “No, [Moitessier] is not mad. I had quite similar urges.”
  — Robin Knox-Johnston [41:38]

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Highlighted Themes

• Maintenance as Metaphor: Both literal and existential—how do you prepare for, and cope with, the unpredictable demands of a long journey?
• Competition vs. Self-Fulfillment: The contrast between winning by external measures (trophies, records) and internal ones (personal meaning, joy).
• Two Types of Heroes: The practical problem-solver (Knox-Johnston) and the romantic idealist (Moitessier) both earn admiration, but redefine winning on their own terms.
• Simplicity vs. Preparedness: The trade-off between equipping for every possible contingency or embracing simplicity to minimize failure points.

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Conclusion

The Philosopher and the Handyman concludes with both men succeeding by their own metrics—Knox-Johnston claims the historical first, while Moitessier claims his soul. The episode closes with the suggestion that the story is not yet over—the darker side of the Golden Globe race is still to come.

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Transcript

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[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

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[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

After half an hour of fruitless effort, I climb back on board and try to think of some other way of doing the job.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Knox Johnston expects his round the world voyage to take about 10, 10 months. He's barely a month in so far. He sailed south from Britain, past half of Africa. He still has to pass the rest of Africa and turn left into the Southern Ocean under Australia and New Zealand and round the bottom of South America, the dreaded Cape Horn, where waves can tower like skyscrapers. He can't do that with a gap between his planks. He drinks a coffee, smokes a cigarette and thinks, what if? He sews the cotton to a long strip of canvas.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I gave it a coating of Stockholm tar and then forced copper tacks through the canvas about six inches apart.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

He'll hammer in the tacks so the canvas holds the cotton in place, then cover the canvas with a sheet of copper to stop it ripping loose. But just as he's about to dive in again, he sees a dark grey shape under the surface near to the boat. A shark. Good job. He noticed.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I got out my rifle, aimed at the shape and squeezed the trigger.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to cautionary tales. Sailing around the world single handed was nothing new. It had first been done in the 19th century though, with lots of stops along the way to fix up problems, get supplies and enjoy some human company. In 1967, a British sailor completed a solo round the world trip with just one stop in Australia. That had never been done before and it caught the imagination of the British newspapers. Over breakfast in the Knox Johnston household, Robin's dad wondered when someone would try to sail round the world without stopping at all. That's about all there's left to do now, isn't it? He casually remarked to Robin.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

He got up and left for the office, leaving me stirring a cup of coffee and thinking. That's about all there's left to do now kept turning in my mind.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Robin Knox Johnston was a young man, just 28 years old. But he was no flower powered child of the 60s. He was conventional, an officer with the British India Steam Navigation Company, a churchgoer and a patriot.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

The thought of generations of Britons and their achievements always encourages me. Most nations have a book full of heroes but I always feel that Britain has a greater share than most.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

As he stirs his coffee and contemplates the place in the history books that awaits the first person to sail non stop around the world, a horrible thought preys on his mind. What if it's a Frenchman? That would be galling.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

By rights, a Briton should do it

[Public Service Announcer / Advertiser]

first

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

and well, why not him? Knox Johnstone was an experienced sailor. He already had a boat. He'd had it built in India when based there with his work. He'd seen a design he liked and sent off to a British company for the plans. But there'd been a mix up and they'd sent him plans for a different boat, more old fashioned and slow. Still, this design looked solid and reliable. So Knox Johnston shrugged and gave the plans to his Indian boat builders. Solid, reliable, a bit old fashioned. Quite by accident, Robin Knox Johnston had ended up with a boat that was very much like him. He'd sailed it from India back to England. Now he began to wonder if he could sail it around the world on his own non stop. Other sailors were also asking themselves, could I? Editors at the British newspaper the Sunday Times had a bright idea. They announced that the first person to sail non stop around the world would win a trophy. The Sunday Times Golden Globe. If sailors were going to be competing anyway, why not attach the newspaper's name to it and get some free publicity? It was a stroke of marketing genius. But that wasn't all. As well as a trophy for the first person around the world, they announced a large cash prize for the fastest. That was clever. It would keep up public interest even after the trophy had been won. The rules were simple. Set off from a British port between June and October of 1968. Whoever got back to their port of departure in the least amount of time would get £5,000, maybe a quarter million dollars in today's money. Not to be sniffed at. Robin Knox Johnston knew he hadn't a hope of winning the cash prize for being fastest. His boat was slow. But maybe he had a chance of being first if he set off at the earliest possible moment right at the start of June. That was a risk. Ideally, you wanted to time your journey so you'd be in the fearsome southern ocean during the southern summer, when the weather should be a little less wild. Other sailors with faster boats were rumoured to be planning a later departure. Among them was Bernard Moitissier, a Frenchman. And not just any Frenchman. Moitissier was already famous for his long distance sailing exploits and the best selling books he wrote about them. Books of philosophy, distinctly French philosophy. The kind of lines that make you imagine smoking a Gauloise at a Parisian street cafe.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear. From time to time toward the open sea it goes, that's all. And it is as simple as a ray of sunshine, as normal as the blue of the sky.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

It wasn't clear if the tame seagull Mortessier had heard about the Sunday Times Golden Globe race, because rumour had it that he was planning to set off from a port in France. The Sunday Times sent a reporter to explain to him about the trophy and the cash prize. But how? The rules said you had to start from a British port. Mo Tessier listened, growing more and more incensed. The very idea, he said, made him want to vomit.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I disapprove of a race. It makes you lose sight of the essential. A voyage to your own outer limits. This search for a profound truth with as sole witnesses the sea, the wind, the boat, the infinitely big, the infinitely small.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

This was a problem for the Sunday Times. If Moitissier was first around the world, it would look a bit silly to give their trophy to someone else. They decided to change their rules to allow competitors to set off from French ports too. But before they could change the rules, Mo Tessier changed his mind. Even philosophers need to eat. And the cash prize was tempting.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

Money, Alas, yes, money. More or less money is necessary.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

He now had a new plan. He'd sail from France to a British port, then sail fastest around the world and pocket the cash prize. But show his contempt for the Sunday Times by refusing to pose for photos or give an interview.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

The rules did not specify that we had to say thank you.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Maybe he'd even catch Robin Knox Johnston in his much slower boat. Then he could pick up the trophy without saying thank you too. Cautionary Tales will be back after the break.

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[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

What was the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race about really, was it seamanship, endurance? Mental fortitude? The writer Stuart Brand has a more prosaic answer. The race was about maintenance. Robin Knox Johnston knew he had no hope of winning the cash prize for being fastest round the world. To stand a chance of winning the trophy for being first, he had to set off at the earliest possible moment. Even though his boat was leaking and it wasn't obvious from where, he'd just have to figure it all out. As he sailed along in the harbour in Falmouth, he piled on board everything he could imagine needing for maintenance on the go.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

One ball corking cotton, one set caulking chisels, 12 yards canvas, 7 pounds Stockholm tar, 7 pounds marine glue, 18 tins flexible seam stopper.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

On went every kind of tool and spare part he could conceive of. By the time he'd finished, the boat was sitting 2 inches lower in the water. But it meant that when the leak got really serious, somewhere near Cape Verde, Knox Johnston had a floating hardware store to draw on. As he drank his coffee, smoked his cigarette and contemplated what to do in his book, Maintenance of Everything, Stewart Brand commends Knox Johnston for taking his time. Skilled maintainers advise never trying to solve a new or complex problem without a thorough mulling first. Of course, skilled maintainers don't usually have to shoot a shark before they can affect their solution.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I squeezed the trigger. There was an explosion in the water as the shark's body threshed around. But within half a minute, the threshing ceased and the lifeless body began slowly to plane down until it disappeared into the blue.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Knox Johnston waited for a while to check no other sharks were lurking, then jumped into the sea, dived underwater and hammered in the canvas and the copper sheet.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

The leaking into the boat almost stopped completely.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Maintenance Knox Johnston sailed on. Bernard Mourtessier sailed from France to a British port and made his final preparations. His approach was the opposite of Robin Knox Johnston's. Instead of piling on board anything he might need, he wanted to get rid of everything he could do without.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I unloaded engine, anchor, winch, dinghy, all unnecessary charts, a suitcase full of books, four anchors, spare zinc anodes, 900 pounds of chain and all the tins of paint. Incredible, the amount of spare equipment a sailboat can carry. Masses of improbable bits of gear.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

The Sunday Times tried to persuade him to take a bulky radio on board like the other sailors, so he could keep them updated on his progress. Moir said no. He was trying to get rid of stuff, not add to it. If he wanted to communicate with the world. He'd do it how he always had when sailing alone. Wait till he encountered a ship, scribble a message, put it in a small container and catapult it in their direction.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A good slingshot. He's worth all the transmitters in the world.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Moitassier set sail in August, 69 days after Robin Knox Johnston. But on his bigger and now much lighter boat, he'd surely go faster. The tame seagull was in his element. No radio, no baggage. Alone.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

Wind, sea boat and sails. A compact, diffuse whole without beginning or end. A part and all of the universe. My own universe, truly mine.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

How do they spend their days at sea? Not knowing how quickly the one is catching the other. Knox Johnston potters doing maintenance.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I cleaned out the engine bilge. I took some of the caulking compound and rammed it into the holes in the forward hatch.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

And what I siez.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I watch the sun set and inhale the breath of the open sea. I feel my being blossoming and my joy soars so high that nothing can disturb it.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I refilled the charger and continued boosting the batteries.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A flying fish shoots straight up in a 20 foot leap into the air.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I went over the rigging with a mixture of white lead and tallow.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A huge barracuda takes off after it and snatches the flying fish at the top of the arc.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I gave the cabin a good scrub up.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I felt sorry for the little one, but was so struck by the terrible beauty that I let out a big ah.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Knox Johnston is clobbered by a massive wave. Then water starts to seep alarmingly into the cabin.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I discovered that there were ominous cracks all around the edge of the cabin. I got out my box of odd nuts and screws and selected the longest bolts and heaviest screws in order to try to reinforce the cabin top for fastenings. The job kept me busy all day.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Muertasier, meanwhile, is communing with the sea birds.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I offer them my cheese and friendship. With time and patience, one comes to eat out of my hand. They raised their heads toward me, cocking them to one side, giving a barely audible little cry, as if they were trying to say that they liked me too.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

And the porpoises? On a foggy day, two dozen porpoises swim alongside Moitissier's boat in a straight line. Then they all suddenly turn 90 degrees to the right. Then they line up again alongside the boat and again make a sharp turn to the right. Mo Tessier watches, puzzled.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

They seem nervous.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

I do not understand Mourtassier checks his compass. The wind has shifted and he hasn't realized he'd set his course to pass a rocky island. But now he's heading straight towards it. To miss the rocks, he has to turn to the right, just as the porpoises had been doing. As he turns his boat, something wonderful happens.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A big black and white porpoise jumps 10 or 12ft in the air in a fantastic somersault, bursting with a tremendous joy, as if he were shouting, the man understood. You understood.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

Stood.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Robin. Knox Johnston thought he'd put on board everything he could possibly need to make repairs. As he went along, he was wrong. No one can think of everything. But a master maintainer is ingenious at finding solutions with whatever he has to hand. When his radio transmitter breaks, for example, Knox Johnston takes it apart and sees that a wire is corroded.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

My problem was how to reconnect it effectively, as I had no solder. In the end, I broke three of my navigation light bulbs and melted down the scraps of solder from the terminals.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

When his battery charger stops working, he strips it down and rebuilds it, then realizes he's forgotten to bring a feeler gauge, a tool that lets you set a very precise gap between two points in a spark plug. He needs to set the gap at 15,000ths of an inch. How on earth can he measure such a tiny distance? He looks around the boat for anything that might help. The logbook. He counts the pages.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

There are 200 to the inch. Therefore, one page equals 5000ths. Thus three thicknesses of paper.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

It works. The charger's fixed. But for all his ingenuity and maintenance, Knox Johnston can't control the winds.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

Come on, God, give me a bloody break. It's been nothing but calms or gales for weeks. How about some steady winds for a change?

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

He's painfully aware that his boat is smaller and slower than Bernard Mourtessier's. And because Mourtessier refused to take a radio, nobody has a clue where he is. Not knowing eats away at Knox Johnston.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I'll bet the Frenchman is having beautiful westerlies. What the hell is wrong with the bloody weather anyway?

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

And Moitissier, the Frenchman is thinking that he hadn't been ruthless enough in port when he cleared out unwanted baggage. He's brought too much food and fuel. He starts lobbing stuff overboard.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A box of army biscuits, a case of condensed milk, about 30 pounds of a jam I don't like a coil of nylon line. Kerosene gets the same treatment. I took more than I needed Heave ho, four jerry cans. Hit the drink.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Moitissier, by the way, was an avid environmentalist. In 1968, nobody had yet realized that ocean pollution was a thing to worry about. As for the race, Moitissier is philosophical.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

If we are indeed racing, I do not feel that it is against other sailors and other boats.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

As he rounds the Cape of Good Hope, Moitissier passes a ship and slingshots a message at them. Knox Johnston is passing New Zealand when he hears the news of where Moattesier was. And when he's still ahead, Moitissier is closing at the rates they've sailed so far. The race to be first is neck and neck. The two are on course to arrive back in Britain at just the same time. Watessier will surely get the cash. Knox Johnston could still win the trophy and secure the place in the history books for the British, not the French.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

That was just the sort of news I needed to spur me on.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Cautionary tales will be back in a moment.

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[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

In his book Maintenance of Everything, Stewart Brand wants to convince us to pay more attention to this unsexy subject. Maintenance, he points out, is what keeps everything going, but it's also a tiresome chore. Brush the damn teeth, change the damn oil. And so, says Brand, we shirk it, defer it, fail to budget time or money for it, and we pay the price when one day the thing we should have been maintaining suddenly fails. Robin Knox Johnston was brilliant at maintenance, but so was Bernard Muatesier in his way. He writes about it in his book tucked away in an appendix of practical advice so different from the philosophizing that you'd hardly guess it's the same author.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A Complete Docs Anode treatment is often as good as hot dip galvanizing, but the steel must always be sandblasted first or thoroughly cleaned with a product of the rust killer type. If the dock's anode is to hold well.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Moitissier's philosophy of maintenance is simple minimize the need for it. His boat is made from steel, not wood.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

That makes it absolutely watertight.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

You won't find Moitissier diving overboard and dodging sharks to fix gaps in planks. Of course, steel will rust given time, but that's What Moitissier's practical advice is about exactly which treatments to apply, which paints, how many coats, in which order. So you can do things like sail around the world without feeling the need to take your tins of paint with you. Wattessier refused the offer of a radio. One less thing to go wrong. Indeed, he saw no need for any electronics on board at all. That meant no need for charging batteries. All those problems that Robin Knox Johnston had to grapple with were problems that simply couldn't occur on Wattesier's boat.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

Given a choice between something simple and something complicated, choose what is simple without hesitation. Sooner or later, what is complicated will almost always lead to problems.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Robin Knox Johnston sailed on from New Zealand, where he'd heard the new news that the race with Mar was neck and neck.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I did not dare risk wasting a single hour if I wanted to beat him home.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

The Southern Ocean stretched ahead again, thousands of lonely miles to Cape Horn, the tip of South America. It might be summer in the Southern Hemisphere, but still the waves were fierce. One crashed over the boat while the hatch to the cabin was still open, drenching everything.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I had to sleep wet for three days as I could not put things out to dry and my efforts to dry the sleeping bag over the heater failed.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

On Christmas Eve, Knox Johnston knocked back whiskey and belted out carols at the top of his voice, even if he couldn't remember all the words. Christmas Day brought news on the radio of the Apollo 8 mission, the first human spaceflight to orbit the moon. They were similar in a way. Men in a small vessel, far from home, doing something that no one had done before. In other ways, not similar at all.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

The contrast between their magnificent effort and my own trip were appalling. I was doing absolutely nothing to advance scientific knowledge. I was sailing around the world simply because I bloody well wanted to.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Knox Johnston paused, feeling maudlin. Only for a moment, and I realized

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

At last. Knox Johnston rounded Cape Horn. The fearsome Southern Ocean was behind him. The last leg of the journey back north up the Atlantic should now be much more straightforward. But Knox Johnston surprised himself.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

My first impulse on rounding the Horn was to keep on going east. The feeling of having got past the worst was terrific. And I suppose this impulse was a way of cocking a snook at the Southern Ocean itself, almost as if to say, I've beaten you and now I'll go round again to prove it.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

But this temptation to keep on going round the Southern Ocean again soon passed.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I thought of hot baths, pints of beer, the other sex and steaks and turned up into the Atlantic for home.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

January, February, March, April. Nearly home. But where was Mortesier? Was he still behind? Had he pulled in front already? Who was going to win? Just a week and a half from Falmouth, the port he'd left nine months before, Knox Johnston finally gets newsier. He is out of the race. Bernard Moitissier sails past Cape Horn in a philosophical mood.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

A great cape can't be expressed in longitude and latitude alone. A great cape has a soul. A soul as smooth as a child's, as hard as a criminal's.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Mor comes to a realization. He doesn't want to go back to Europe. He wants to keep going round the Southern Ocean once again. And then somewhere, Tahiti. Somewhere simple, far from the snake pit of so called Western states, civilization. The monster that is the modern world.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

It is destroying our earth and trampling the soul of men.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

There is the slight complication that Mo has a wife in France and stepchildren.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I do not know how to explain to them. How could they understand? It could. It can't be explained in words. It would be completely useless to try.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Mossier had chucked overboard everything he decided he didn't need. A coil of nylon line, the jam he didn't like, four jerry cans of kerosene. Now his marriage gets the same treatment. Heave ho. Mo Tessier sails on towards the southern tip of Africa. For the second time on his journey, he encounters a ship off the Cape of Good Hope and slingshots them. A message to pass on to the Sunday Times.

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

I am continuing non stop towards the Pacific islands because I am happy at sea and perhaps also to save my soul.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Robin Knox Johnston sails back into Falmouth harbour, the first man ever to sail non stop around the world. Helicopters hover, camera crews film, crowds wave and cheer a cannon fire. There's the formality of a question from the Falmouth harbour customs officer, though he can hardly keep a straight face as he asks it where from? Knox Johnston grins. Falmouth, Robin. Knox Johnston has added his name to Britain's book Full of Heroes. But when someone suggests that the Frenchman must have been mad to give up his chance of glory, Knox Johnston shakes his head.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I said I knew and understood what he did and that he didn't need to explain it. I said to people, no, Otier is not mad. I had quite similar urges.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

Later, Knox Johnston gets an envelope through the mail postmarked Tahiti. Bernard Mourtessier has read about what Knox Johnston said and written to thank him,

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

I got a lovely, charming letter.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

As for Moitissier, he leaps to Knox Johnston's defence whenever anyone suggests that the Briton only won because the Frenchman pulled out. You can't know that, says Mo Tessier. And anyway, if I'd won, it would

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

have been a grave injustice as Knox Johnston's boat was much smaller and much less sound.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

These two very different men, alone in their boats, had formed a bond with across the ocean we met once.

[Robin Knox Johnston (First-person account)]

He was a nice friendly chap.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

There are two ways to win at the game of maintenance. One is to be a skilled, ingenious and hard working maintainer. The other is to simplify, to opt out as far as possible from having anything that can go wrong. Of course you can't opt out completely. Even simple things need maintaining. The author Stuart Brand once met Bernard Mourtessier who told him how every day he'd do whatever little jobs needed doing. And then I spent my time reading,

[Bernard Moitessier (First-person account)]

sleeping, eating, the good quiet life with nothing to do.

[Narrator (Tim Harford)]

In much the same way, there are two ways to win at the game of life. One is to play by the rules better than anyone else. The other is to make up your own rules again. Up to a point, alas, yes, more or less money is necessary. Moirtessier solved that problem by writing another best selling book. Robin Knox Johnston won, but Bernard Mourtessier certainly didn't lose. So much for the trophy for being the first man back. But remember, it wasn't just about the trophy. The Sunday Times had cleverly added another strand to their Golden Globe contest to keep up public interest. When the trophy was won the cash prize for being the fastest. Motessier had turned his back on the money. But there were still two other sailors out there who both left later and were both on course to post faster times than Robin Knox Johnston. At least that's how it seemed. But the glitter of the Golden Globe was about to turn dark. We'll continue the story next time on Cautionary Tales. A key source for this episode was Stuart Brand's the Maintenance of Everything. For a full list of sources, see Tim Harford.com Cautionary Tales is written by me, Tim Harford, with Andrew Wright, Alice Fiennes and Ryan Dilley. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are the work of Pascal Wise. Ben Nadaff Haffrey edited the scripts. It features the voice talents of Melanie Gutteridge, Genevieve Gaunt, Stella Harford, Macea Munro, Jamal Westman and Rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohn, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brodie, Christina Sullivan, Keira Posey and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you like the show, please remember to share, rate and review. It really does make a difference to us. And if you want to hear it ad free and receive a bonus audio episode, video episode and members only newsletter every month, why not join the Cautionary Club? To sign up, head to patreon.com cautionaryclub that's patreon P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com cautionaryclub.

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