The Teignmouth Electron

The Teignmouth Electron was a 41-foot trimaran built for one man to sail around the world without stopping. In October 1968 she left Teignmouth in Devon with Donald Crowhurst on board. She came back to the news as a ghost ship.

The boat

She was a trimaran, a boat with a main hull and two smaller floats. She was built for the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and named after the town where the voyage began.

The man

Donald Crowhurst was an amateur sailor and electronics businessman from Bridgwater in Somerset. He entered the race with little ocean experience and a business in trouble.

The race

The Golden Globe Race was the first solo, non-stop, round-the-world yacht race. Nine sailors entered. Only one finished.

What happened

Crowhurst left Teignmouth on 31 October 1968. Over the following months he reported fast progress by radio. The positions were not real. In July 1969 a Royal Mail ship found the Teignmouth Electron drifting in the Atlantic. Crowhurst was not on board.

Read more

• The Donald Crowhurst mystery: the race, the faked positions and the empty boat.
• The Teignmouth Electron on Cayman Brac: where the boat ended up.
• Donald Crowhurst and Teignmouth: the town’s part in the story.