Sir Francis Chichester, (born September 17, 1901, Barnstaple, Devon, England – died August 26, 1972, Plymouth, Devon) was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his achievement of sailing solo around the world in only nine months and one day.

He sailed his ketch yacht, Gipsy Moth IV, from Plymouth, England in 1966 and returned there in 1967, nine months and one day later, having circumnavigated the globe.

He was knighted with the sword which had originally belonged to his namesake Sir Francis Drake (the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe).

The first solo circumnavigation of the globe was achieved by Joshua Slocum but it took him three years.

External links

• BBC story from 1967 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/28/newsid_2495000/2495799.stm)