On September 8, 1973 17 race yachts, carrying 167 crew from seven different nations, hoisted their spinnakers on the way out from Portsmouth into the English Channel on the first leg of a brand new sporting contest stopping in Cape Town, Sydney and Rio before returning to Portsmouth.

During the race three sailors were swept over board and died: Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking. Waterhouse and Guillet were never to be seen again.

The smaller Mexican yacht Sayula II, skippered by Ramon Carlin, won the overall race in a handicapped time of 133 days 13 hours; actual time was 152 days.

See the archive footage below: