Previous experiences of knockdowns
Bernard Moitessier: Joshua , 39ft steel ketch
oitessier described one storm in the Southern Ocean as an “end of the world gale” experienced during a voyage in 1966 from Tahiti to Spain via Cape Horn. For six days, he and his wife endured hurricane-strength winds, which threw up enormous waves – “breakers 150-200 metres long, breaking without interruption”. Moitessier employed all his trailing lines and sea anchor to slow their progress but Joshua still came within an ace
