"Жыпшық көмекшісі IV: Жеке жүзушінің саяхаты"

Ketch

Gipsy Moth IV is a 53 feet (16 m) ketch that Sir Francis Chichester commissioned specifically to sail single handed around the globe, racing against the times set by the clipper ships of the 19th century. Gipsy Moth IV was the first ever purpose built ocean racer and has over the years become the most famous of small sailing vessels. Gipsy Moth IV's voyage was the inspiration for the Golden Globe Race (GGR) which continues today. The name, the fourth boat in Chichester's series, all named Gipsy Moth, originated from the de Havilland Gipsy Moth aircraft in which Chichester completed pioneering work in aerial navigation techniques.

After being nursed back to health from a suspected lung abscess by his wife, Chichester undertook two single handed Transatlantic races from Plymouth to New York in 1960 and Plymouth to Newport in 1964 in Gipsy Moth III. He won the '60 race and was runner up in the '64 race. During the '64 race he became inspired to challenge the times set by the tea and wool clipper ships. The tea clippers took an average of 123 days to make their passage to the East Indies, so Chichester set himself the target of making the passage in 100 days. He subsequently wrote his book Along the Clipper Way, which charts the voyage taken by 19th century wool clippers returning from Australia. In 1965 Chichester commissioned Gosport based ship yard Camper and Nicholsons to build the boat, designed by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose. Launched in March 1966 with yard number 916, Gypsy Moth IV is 38 feet (12 m) on the waterline and 53 feet (16 m) overall, with a hull constructed of cold moulded Honduras mahogany. The scheduled displacement (to follow Chichester's requirements of maximum weight) was 10.4 tons, after trials increased by 1 ton of added ballast to cope with insufficient righting moment. Ketch rigged, she has a sail area of , extendable with a spinnaker to over The boat incorporated the maximum amount of sail for the minimum amount of rigging, whilst employing tiller based self steering using design principles established by Blondie Hasler that could enable steerage from the skipper's bunk, essential for solo sailing for a voyage of this length.

Gipsy Moth IV set out from Plymouth on 27 August 1966 with 64 year old Sir Francis at the helm. The voyage was not uneventful, and Chichester later recalled three moments where he noted that the trip nearly ended. The first was when part of the frame holding the wind vane self steering failed, when still from Sydney. Not wanting to put in at Fremantle, Western Australia, Chichester spent three days balancing sails and experimenting with shock cord lines on the tiller, once again getting the boat to hold a course to enable her to cover 160 mile (257 km) a day. An exhausted Chichester entered Sydney harbour for a stopover 107 days later. He enlisted the help of America's Cup designer Warwick Hood, who added a piece to the boat's keel to provide Gipsy Moth IV with better directional stability to stop her broaching, but the modification did nothing to improve her stability. Gipsy Moth IV sailed at classic regattas in the summer of 2011, including Suffolk Yacht Harbour Classic Regatta (18–19 June), JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race (25 June), Panerai British Classic Week (16–23 July) and Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week (6–13 August). She was one of a number of important vessels which were moored along the route of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Due to her size, she was not part of the flotilla of vessels, and instead was moored with other vessels at St Katharine Docks, in a display known as the Avenue of Sail. Gipsy Moth IV was a regular visitor to Bucklers Hard, especially for winter maintenance, during which times she was viewed by the public on special open days. In May 2017 she attended the Jersey Boat Show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Chichester's circumnavigation. The yacht was owned and maintained by The Gipsy Moth Trust, a registered charity, until 2021. Her costs were funded by paying passengers and crew, and by donations to the Trust. In February 2021 she was put up for sale by the Trust when COVID 19 badly affected the continued operation of the Trust.

In March 2022, Gipsy Moth IV was purchased by Simon Oberholzer who has undertaken her second complete restoration, back to her to her original "1967 state". As Gipsy Moth has a full keel and wide turning circle, and in order to manoeuver her into small spaces in today's marinas, a specially designed electric powered water thruster was developed and has been installed in the bow during the 2022 restoration at the Elephant Boatyard, on the Hamble River. This allows Gipsy Moth IV now to turn easily without compromising her structural integrity or ruining the aesthetics of her classic lines. Gipsy Moth IV's 2022 outer restoration was completed, just a day before her Royal Review by the Princess Royal at Cowes Week and the Solent Platinum Jubilee Celebration on 6 August 2022. The cumulative cost of the Gipsy Moth IV and restorations now exceeds £2 million. In addition to the restoration, Oberholzer has collected more than one thousand documents, articles, artifacts and other memorabilia (ranging from minted coins to issued stamps and tea clothes) which relate to Gipsy Moth IV and which secures her status as a sailing legend. As of November 2015 the inside back cover of all new British passports have an illustration of Gipsy Moth IV. The restoration activities surrounding Gipsy Moth IV during 2022–2023 have not been limited to the yacht itself, but have been extended to include the creation and updating of the Gipsy Moth IV logo by Bas van der Heide, who has a long association with various of The Ocean Race yachts (and who designed boats like ABN Amro 1 and 2 and most recently Jajo in 2023). In addition, a Gipsy Moth IV and Sir Francis Chichester knowledge platform for educational purposes has been started: www. gipsymothiv. com.

On the day of the Coronation of King Charles III (6th May, 2023) Gipsy Moth IV departed Ramsgate for The Netherlands, making her first voyage away from British waters in 16 years. The last time was during the Blue Water Rally voyage in 2005–2007. Gipsy Moth IV's first port of call was Scheveningen, The Netherlands.

Chichester's and Gipsy Moth IV's voyage in 1966 is regarded as the first race around the world and the origin of ocean racing. At the start of the final leg of the Ocean Race 2023, at the Hague, Gipsy Moth IV provided a full dress salute to the participating boats and the following day, the same to the Admiral of the Dutch navy at the Scheveningen harbour's "Vlaggetjesdag" festival which has been held annually since 1947.

Gipsy Moth IV sails under the British flag (Red Ensign) and is linked to the Royal Thames Yacht Club.

Gipsy Moth IV

is the first sailing boat to be raced solo around the world in 1966/67. was sailed by Sir Francis Chichester, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for this first ever solo round the world voyage. despite her small size of 53 feet, beat the times of the great tea clippers like the Cutty Sark. was designed by Illingworth and Primrose and is the first ever specifically designed round the world ocean racer. is a very light composite yacht made of Honduran mahogany and epoxy weighing circa. 13 tons. was visited by more than 1 million people already in 1977.
has been either visited, inspected or sailed by the British royals on five official occasions. was out of the water on display at the British National Maritime Museum as Greenwich, London, for 37 years. has a song written about her by Dire Straits: "Single Handed Sailor." has been restored twice to sailing condition in 2005 and 2022 and has had cumulatively more than 2 million pounds spent on her build and restorations. was run aground on a reef, during her second circumnavigation in the South Pacific in 2006 and she was repaired by the Emirates America’s Cup Team New Zealand in Auckland. was illustrated on the inside pages of the British passport in 2015.
is the origin of ocean racing and has inspired more than 45 round the world ocean races since her first voyage.