The South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) is the regional film archive for the South West of England. Established in 1993, SWFTA's core collection comprises of the combined programme libraries of Westward Television and TSW (Television South West). The archive also cares for a significant number of donated film collections, both amateur and professional, dating back to the early 1900s.
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Donald Crowhurst and the Teignmouth Electron
The first round the world yacht race attracts electronics engineer and amateur sailor Donald Crowhurst but with disastrous consequences.
From the collection of:
Overview
In March 1968 The Sunday Times announces the Golden Globe Race for the first non-stop solo circumnavigation of the world. Electronics engineer and amateur sailor Don Crowhurst enters along with sailors, Chay Blyth, Nigel Tetley, Bernard Moitessier, John Ridgeway, William King, Alex Carozza, Loïck Fougeron, Bill Howell and merchant navy officer, Robin Knox-Johnston. Failing to buy Chichester's Gipsy Moth IV, Crowhurst builds a trimaran, the Teignmouth Electron.
The story is immortalised by documentary Deep Water (2006) and film The Mercy (2018). Crowhurst uses a Marconi transmitter to fake positions beyond the Atlantic and writes dual logs; he never actually continues to the Southern Ocean. By the time the lead sailors are on their way home, Crowhurst is ahead in the race but he stops transmitting and makes one final entry into his diary. His yacht was found abandoned mid-Atlantic on 10th July 1969. Knox-Johnston who won the race donated his prize money to the Crowhurst family. Interviews include treasurer Mrs Arnott, Chair of Teignmouth Council Arthur Blayden, Crowhurst's publicist Rodney Hallworth and Clare Crowhurst before her husband was reported missing.
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