Bernard Moitessier

In the summer of 1968, nine sailors set off from various ports in Great Britain and Ireland in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a solo, around-the-world, non-stop sailing competition. Rules were fairly loose—some of the entrants had already been planning around-the-world voyages, and race organizers hoped the prize money would swell their ranks. As long as a sailor had a boat, they could enter, and they could embark any time between June 1 and October 31. Nine entered. One finished. Robin Knox-Johnston won and became the first person to sail unassisted around the world without stopping.

But his story is not the most interesting.

The lone competitor from France, Bernard Moitessier, was also the most likely to win the event. He was born on April 10, 1925, in Hanoi, and spent much of his life on boats. After a well-heeled and cushy childhood in the crumbling French empire of Southeast Asia (he grew up largely in Saigon), Moitessier became bored and wanted to leave behind the