TREVOR OSBEN AND CHESS

Introduction by Kitty Hampton

This club is known for recognizing and acknowledging unusual sailing achievements, particularly those that are undertaken in a modest fashion with the minimum of fuss or sponsorship. Trevor Osben was the epitome of this spirit. Having decided that sailing would be good for his health, he built Chess, a 20ft plywood boat, in the front garden and launched her in June 1984.

Although some people would hesitate at the thought of crossing the Channel in a 20ft boat, let alone the Atlantic, Trevor set sail for warmer climates in June 1986 and ended up sailing singlehanded around the world. There were no speed records to be broken and the trip took him four years. His log is a brief and very understated account of what at times must have been a fairly hair-raising trip. To survive being dismasted no less than three times was bad enough but to sail over 3000 miles from the Galapagos to Tahiti under jury rig is a remarkable achievement.

After returning to England in July 1990 Trevor refitted Chess, and when he was unable to find a job in this country decided to sail to Madeira to meet up with friends before continuing to South Africa. He left Falmouth on 25th October 1991, since when there has been no news of him. A search was called off on 9 December, and at the time of writing (March 1992) no trace had been found of either Trevor or his boat. This is his own account of his voyage.

I first became interested in sailing as a hobby with the idea that the sea air would be good for me, having had asthma. I built a 20ft Mirador trailer sailer from a plywood kit, using the stitch-'n'-glue technique. Fitted with a listing keel the boat has a draught of 4ft reducing to 9in and a beam of 8ft 2in. Chess was launched in June 1984. I learnt to sail on her and also did a Yachtmaster Theory course at evening classes. In June 1986 I decided to sail to a warmer climate, and a short account of the singlehanded voyage I undertook follows:

8/09/86-22/09/86: Brightlingsea, Essex, 250 miles to Dartmouth, with stops at Ramsgate, Rye, Newhaven, Cowes and Poole. Wind E 3/8

26/09/86-10/10/86: 645 miles to Leixies, Portugal. Wind NE 2/3, some fog, otherwise weather perfect. Taught myself astro-navigation crossing Biscay

16/10/86-26/10/86: 170 miles to Lisbon. Wind NE 2/5. Stopped at S Martinho do Porto on the way

05/11/86-22/11/86: 800 miles to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Nine days over gale force. Had no self-steering gear so had to lie a-hull during worst weather. Finished building self-steering in Gran Canaria

01/01/87-18/02/87: 2845 miles to Castries, St Lucia. Wind variable, NE only last 700 miles. Half-way in 18 days, but damage to rudder and rigging forced me to slow down

19/02/87-21/05/87: 200 miles to Grenada, cruising the West Indies

22/05/87-26/05/87: 140 miles to Los Testigos, Venezuela. Wind E 2/4. Anchored on way at Pampatar

11/06/87-16/06/87: 300 miles to Curacao. Wind E 1/8. Found wash from tugs in Curacao too hazardous for yacht

Undated: 675 miles to Colon, Panama. Wind E 4, then W 2. Electrical storms, St Elmo's fire and sighted water spouts

22/07/87-23/07/87: 40 mile Canal transit to Isla Tabago, towed by French yacht Choupette and helped by Shane Acton of Shrimpy

06/08/87-20/08/87: 540 miles to Isle del Coco. Wind light and variable

27/08/87-24/09/87: 420 miles to San Cristobal, Galapagos. Wind S 6/8. Lower shroud fitting parted, which caused the mast to break. Set up jury rig with storm jib and spritsail main

28/09/87-29/09/87: 55 miles to Santa Cruz, Galapagos. Wind S 3

29/09/87-14/11/87: 3000 miles to Nuku Hiva, Marquesas. Wind SE and NE 2/4. Still under jury rig

18/11/87-07/12/87: 780 miles to Tahiti. Wind variable. Repaired mast in Tahiti

16/12/87-28/12/87: 620 miles to Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Calm and SE 2/6. Too cloudy to use sextant so navigated by dead reckoning only

11/01/88-09/02/88: 1740 miles to Auckland, New Zealand. Calm for 10 days, S 9 for 4 days

Undated: Cruised 400 miles in Bay of Islands, New Zealand

11/08/88-21/08/88: 900 miles to Ile des Pins and Noumea. Wind S 8 - SE 3

28/08/88-14/09/88: 1430 miles to Portland Road, Queensland. Wind SE 8. Rolled 360off Great Barrier Reef and drifted over detached reef. Mast was bent but able to raise storm jib

20/09/88-24/09/88: 145 miles to Thursday Island. Wind SE 6

28/09/88-03/10/88: 345 miles to Gove, Northern Territory. Wind SE 3. Attacked by three false killer whales. Stayed for wet season at Gove Yacht Club

11/05/89-17/05/89: 450 miles to Darwin

17/06/89-04/07/89: 1520 miles to Christmas Island. Wind SE 1/3 with line squalls. Three consecutive days under spinnaker

14/07/89-24/08/89: 2880 miles to Mauritius. Wind calm SW then SE 7/10. Huge waves. Passed north of Cocos Keeling due to rough weather. Yachts not allowed to stay long in Mauritius

16/09/89-18/09/89: 125 miles to Reunion. Wind E 8

03/10/89-25/10/89: 1410 miles to Durban. Wind N 1/2, SE 3 then SW 5/9. Hove-to off Durban due to south-westerly

24/01/90-24/02/90: 800 miles to Cape Town. Wind variable up to F 10. Stops at East London, Port Elizabeth and Knysna

07/04/90-26/04/90: 1720 miles to St Helena. Wind NNW 1/5, fog, then SE 4. Fine sailing once past 30S

05/05/90-12/05/90: 690 miles to Ascension Island. Wind variable and SE 3

13/05/90-24/06/90: 3560 miles to Horta, Azores. Wind SE 4, NE 6 then N 1. Crossed Equator at 25W, averaging 3 knots through doldrums. Caught rain water in the doldrums. North East Trades a bit rough for a few days, but ran out of wind at 29N 38W

30/06/90-01/07/90: Horta - Velas, Sao Jorge - Horta. Portuguese Navy Day race. Wind N 2. First on handicap to Velas

11/07/90-28/07/90: 1265 miles to Falmouth. Wind SW, NE and W 4. 300 miles from Bishop Rock the mast fell over the side, but was able to put it back up

05/08/90-06/08/90: 65 miles to Dartmouth

10/08/90-17/08/90: 250 miles to West Mersea, Essex. Wind W 3. Stopped at Brighton, Ramsgate and Bradwell

19/08/90: returned to Brightlingsea. Wind S 6/7. A reception was held for me by the Brightlingsea Sailing Club and Colne Yacht Club. Also greeted by the Chairman of Tendring District Council and Anglia TV

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