Deep Water - A documentary about Donald Crowhurst
Jan 4th, 2007 by Jason
Whether you know who Donald Crowhurst is or if you have never heard of him, this film is will leave an impression.
For those of you who don’t know, Donald Crowhurst was one of 9 men who set out in a race to be the first person to sail solo, non-stop around the world. By all accounts, Crowhurst was the least experienced sailor and seemed to have the most riding on it.
Leaving from Teignmouth at the end of October 1968, the last boat to leave, he set off around the world. Many of the other sailors were already well known and experienced, in particular Bernard Moitessier. Without revealing too much about the story it’s really about the pressures of completing the voyage and the conflicting responsibilities that Crowhurst had to contend with. The aspect that makes this true story so engaging is that because of the obligations he was under, as he began to fall behind Crowhurst began to fake his position when radioing in.
As the race progressed this led the British public to believe Crowhurst was completing the circumnavigation in the fastest time, when in truth he was falling further and further behind. Then his boat, Teignmouth Electron, began to leak.
Robin Knox-Johnston was the only person to complete the race, Moitessier having changed his mind on the final leg of the trip, despite having the fastest time to that point, and continued around the globe. He is quoted as saying something like ‘England to England… that is nowhere’.
The film is a documentary, shot with archive footage, video and audio of Crowhurst that he filmed on the voyage and interviews with friends and family. I think you can guess that all did not turn out well for Crowhurst.
At the end of the film, the cinema auditorium was silent. No-one rushed to leave. Everyone sat and absorbed what is to me, one of the most moving films I have seen.
Deep Water
It sounds like a good documentary. I will try to check it out.
Interesting that in the last few days a 14 year old sailed solo across the Atlantic. Solo sailing long distances must be quite a feat for anyone, especially someone as young as 14. I think it’s quite amazing.
This looks and sounds like an excellent documentary, i was talking to some people i work with the other day about it and they said it was well worth a watch as well.