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The ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race, held in 1968–1969, and was the first round-the-world yacht race. The race was controversial due to the failure by most competitors to finish the race and because of the suicide of one entrant; however, it ultimately led to the founding of the ''BOC Challenge'' and ''Vendée Globe'' round-the-world races, both of which continue to be successful and popular. The race was sponsored by the British ''Sunday Times'' newspaper and was designed to capitalise on a number of individual round-the-world voyages which were already being planned by various sailors; for this reason, there were no qualification requirements, and competitors were offered the opportunity to join and permitted to start at any time between 1 June and 31 October 1968. The Golden Globe trophy was offered to the first person to complete an unassisted, non-stop single-handed circumnavigation of the world via the great capes, and a separate £5,000 prize was offered for the fastest single-handed circumnavigation. Nine sailors started the race; four retired before leaving the Atlantic Ocean. Of the five remaining, Chay Blyth, who had set off with absolutely no sailing experience, sailed past the Cape of Good Hope before retiring; Nigel Tetley sank with to go while leading; Donald Crowhurst, who, in desperation, attempted to fake a round-the-world voyage to avoid financial ruin, began to show signs of mental illness, and then committed suicide; and Bernard Moitessier, who rejected the philosophy behind a commercialised competition, abandoned the race while in a strong position to win and kept sailing non-stop until he reached Tahiti after circling the globe one and a half times. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only entrant to complete the race, becoming the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world. He was awarded both prizes, and later donated the £5,000 to a fund supporting Crowhurst's family. ==Genesis of the race== Long-distance single-handed sailing has its beginnings in the nineteenth century, when a number of sailors made notable single-handed crossings of the Atlantic. The first single-handed circumnavigation of the world was made by Joshua Slocum, between 1895 and 1898,〔''Sailing Alone Around the World'', Captain Joshua Slocum; Sheridan House, 1954. ISBN 0-911378-20-0〕 and many sailors have since followed in his wake, completing leisurely circumnavigations with numerous stopovers. However, the first person to tackle a single-handed circumnavigation as a speed challenge was Sir Francis Chichester, who, in 1960, had co-founded the ''Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race'' (''OSTAR''). In 1966, Chichester set out to sail around the world by the clipper route, starting and finishing in England with a stop in Sydney, in an attempt to beat the speed records of the clipper ships in a small boat. His voyage was a great success, as he set an impressive round-the-world time of nine months and one day — with 226 days of sailing time — and, soon after his return to England on 28 May 1967, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.〔''Gipsy Moth Circles the World'', Sir Francis Chichester; International Marine, 2001. ISBN 0-07-136449-8〕 Even before his return, however, a number of other sailors had turned their attention to the next logical challenge — a ''non-stop'' single-handed circumnavigation of the world. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sunday Times Golden Globe Race」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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