Gipsy Moth IV's Restoration
By the early 2000s, the condition of Gipsy Moth IV, even though it continued to rest in a Greenwich drydock hoist, had seriously deteriorated. Admirers of the vessel knew that she required a complete restoration if her life was to be extended. A campaign was launched in 2003 by Paul Gelder, editor of Yachting Monthly magazine, to sail the yacht around the world a second time in observance of the 40th anniversary of Chichester's epic voyage (and coincidentally the 100th birthday of the magazine).
In November 2004 she was lifted out of Greenwich dry dock (which some had called the yacht's "grave") after being sold to the UK Sailing Academy in Cowes, Isle of Wight, for a token £1 and a gin and tonic, said to be Chichester's favourite tipple. The UKSA, Yachting Monthly and the Maritime Trust were the three major project partners in the bold campaign to save the yacht. She was taken by road back to Camper & Nicholson, her original builders in Gosport, Portsmouth Harbour.
On 20 June 2005 Gipsy Moth IV was relaunched after a £400,000 refit with money raised by donations from the public, and equipment and services given by the British marine industry. In September 2005 she embarked on a 21-month educational round-the-world voyage with the Blue Water Round the World Rally, via the trade wind route and the Panama and Suez Canals (not the Capes as had been followed in its first circumnavigation). In spring 2006, she ran aground on an atoll in the South Pacific. An extensive restoration in Auckland was required to repair the yacht, which was successfully refloated in June 2006. After being accompanied into Plymouth by a flotilla of boats, the Gipsy Moth IV docked at West Hoe Pier on 28 May 2007, as she had done exactly 40 years earlier, to complete her journey round the world.
The yacht's restoration and the second circumnavigation are described in Paul Gelder's 2007 book, "Gipsy Moth IV: A Legend Sails Again".
Read more about this topic: Francis Chichester
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