La Longue Route

'The Long Way' is the English translation. Bernard Moitessier's account of his round the world sail, nonstop, for the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (now Vendee Globe, and not leaving from Plymouth but from Les Sables D'Olonnes in France) The race took place in 1968-1969, at a time when there were no GPS, no SSBs, no EPIRB, no regular weather faxes via satellite during the long offshore periods. Sailing alone meant not hearing from anyone for months. And reading the weather patterns meant looking at wave pattern, stars, clouds and barometer. When he was about to head for the finish, he decided to do another half circumvigation to end up in Tahiti and sailed past the Cape of Good Hope and Leeuwin once more. A pretty amazing feat. Great article on 'Weather at sea' - and how to actively sail away/around and in a storm based on where you are.

 

From Wikipedia 

Robin Knox-Johnston finishing his circumnavigation of the world in Suhaili as the winner of the Golden Globe Race

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 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km) to go while leading; Donald Crowhurst, who attempted to fake a round-the-world voyage, 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.