Sunday Times Golden Globe Race

The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race held in 1968 and 1969, and the first non-stop round-the-world yacht race. It was sponsored by the British Sunday Times newspaper and designed to capitalise on voyages that sailors were already planning, so there were no qualification requirements and competitors could start at any time between 1 June and 31 October 1968. A Golden Globe trophy went to the first person to complete an unassisted, non-stop circumnavigation via the great capes, with a separate 5,000 pound prize for the fastest. Nine sailors started and only Robin Knox-Johnston finished, returning to Falmouth on 22 April 1969. The race was marked by the failure of eight of nine entrants, the apparent suicide of Donald Crowhurst and Bernard Moitessier's decision to abandon a winning position, and it led to the founding of the BOC Challenge and the Vendee Globe.