MADNESS AT SEA: The Lost Captain | Last Moments
A fascinating tale of deception, guilt and madness at sea. Unusually, it was all captured in logbooks and tapes, but the man behind them all disappeared forever.
“Donald Charles Alfred Crowhurst (1932 – July 1969) was a British businessman and amateur sailor who died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. Soon after starting the race, his ship began taking on water and he wrote it would probably sink in heavy seas. He secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually doing so. His ship’s log books, found after his disappearance, suggest that the stress he was under and an associated psychological deterioration possibly led to his suicide.
Crowhurst’s convoluted and ultimately tragic participation in the race has exerted a fascination over subsequent generations of commentators and artists. It has inspired a number of books, stage plays and films; among the latter a factual 2006 documentary Deep Water and the films Crowhurst (2017) and The Mercy (2017), in which his part is played by the actors Justin Salinger and Colin Firth, respectively. His innovative but ill-prepared boat, the Teignmouth Electron, ended its days as a dive boat in the Caribbean and its decaying remains can still be found in the dunes above a beach in the Cayman Islands.”
More on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst
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@Qxir
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Second Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt93hxFmjppL5nLRAX94UrA
Merch: teespring.com/stores/qxir
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/qxir
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QxirYT
Discord: https://discord.gg/jZzvvwJ
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/qxiryt/
Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Qxir/
@MikeHubbard-m2z
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Johnson good dude
@schrisdellopoulos9244
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Horse tells this story much better.
@liba_cutis
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
1:30 What about Chay with no sailing experience?
@justsomedude-s7t
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
What a haunting story!
@hughmortyproductions8562
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Probably a controversial opinion but I think Knox-Johnston should have give the money to Tetley, not to Crowhurst's family. Tetley would have been the rightful winner of the money if not for Crowhurst's deception. Crowhurst was a coward and a liar. He his miserable end was well earned.
@timowells3311
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
I've been building and sailing boats since I was knee high to a pup. Me backs broken and I can't work anymore, but I've never been so shit on a stick stupid as to do something like that.
@Midwinter_Snow
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Dude sounds like he actually met Cthulhu near the end. Puts a lot of that lovecraftian style horror in perspective, the whole insanity and reality blending together stuff. As a big fan of eldritch horror, I find it rather interesting.
@loneprimate
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
15:29 Class act. 100%.
@jamesstuart3346
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Had Donald called it quits in Argentina and gone back home, he could easily have picked up sponsors for a serious attempt in a decent boat
@DarthLink1986
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
How to not use a green screen 🤣😂🤣😂
@elfarcherdv
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
To make the Sunday Times only equal it… what a fucking legend.
@thisis.michelletorres
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
The ultimate winner (at life), a noble and generous man with a lovely and likeable spirit.
@Mayaman67
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
The book about this race is captivating. One of the best books I've ever read.
@FROEZOEN
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
All that effort for a golden globe
@David-d2o1h
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Rest in Peace Donald.
@draculinalilith396
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
I wish you had focused more on the fact that if he didnt win his family would effectively be financially ruined. The one who he was primarily indebted to was also his sponsor for the ship itself, under promise of completion of the entire race, with a hope to possibly win and receive enough money to free his family from debt. The night before he left he suggested to his wife that surely she would be worried sick if he went. She didnt realize it was a cry for help, looking for any reason not to go. He knew prior to launching that the boat was dreadfully underprepared. The presentation that he was confident is completely inaccurate. As he was shaking with fear days prior to leaving and the idea he would install equipment while underway is nonsensical. IDK where that information came from. Because in his logs from very early on, he demonstrates fear, and he didnt even have spare screws so he never had intent on installing equipment mid voyage. Again, idk where that information came from, im assuming made up or extrapolated or a report from the sponsor. Anyway, he waffled about the equipment because his goal was to not only sail for the reasons he stated openly but also to prove the effectiveness of his equipment to the wider masses which again is good for recovering his family financially if he could prove his ideas work. By the end he accomplished nothing he intended to, and succumb to the isolation and possible loss of future. He saw no way out. And given all the details, I understand why.
@cleanhabitats
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
I sailed alone around the Coronado Islands from San Diego.
@Alaryicjude
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Obviously the right man won.
@geneticjen9312
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
I assume he faked the entries where he's going mad as well. He's done it once. Now nobody will look for him
@adamdunne8868
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Gotta be one of the best stories you've done. So genuinely sad.
@leobgoo6350
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Sailing around the world, and not knowing where or what you are doing…
@Mister_42
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Piver designed a great boat. Many of them outlived their masters.
@some_haqr
November 4, 2025 at 6:09 pm
bros fell off
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