Chichester's Albatross

He was, they said, too old (70) and too ill (suffering from what had been vaguely described as a blood disease) to take part in last month's singlehanded transatlantic sailboat race. But Globe Girdler Sir Francis Chichester sailed off anyway, was reported missing for several days, and became the object of extensive air and sea searches before he was located and helped back to port. Stung by continuing criticism, the aging mariner has now clearly identified his albatross--cancer of the spine--and attempted to justify his entry in the race.

In a straight-to-the-point letter to the Times of London, written from his bed at the Royal Naval Hospital in Plymouth, Sir Francis explained: "After returning from my round-the-world trip in 1967, an illness developed and in due course it was discovered that I had a malignant growth near the base of my spine. The tumor spread to involve my spine and later other bones. With the help of appropriate treatment I have been fighting this trouble, and on the whole it has been a successful fight--because it did not prevent me from building a new yacht and improving the singlehanded-long-distance world speed record which I had held since 1967."

However, the growth presented two particular problems: "It made me become anemic and secondly, as the bones were increasingly affected, it became increasingly painful." He injected himself with a painkiller, but discovered that "under its influence, I could not think clearly and in particular could not rely on my calculations." Thus Sir Francis decided to quit the race, "not because of hazard to myself, but because of the risks to others if I passed out, which seemed probable." Those risks taken by his rescuers were really unnecessary, Sir Francis intimated. "Although I shall always be grateful for the kindness and skill of the help I received from the Royal Navy in removing the damaged mizzenmast and sailing back, I still believe I would have made it alone." Yet Sir Francis will probably follow doctors' orders and not go sailing alone again for at least a year. A singlehanded voyage before then, wrote the Old Man of the Sea, would likely end "in a spinnaker run across the Styx from which there is no return."

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