Nigel Tetley

Tetley enjoying Christmas dinner solitary on his boat Victress during the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, 1968.

Nigel Tetley (8 February 1924 – 2 February 1972) was a British sailor who was the first person to circumnavigate the world solo in a trimaran.

The race A native of South Africa, and a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy, Tetley entered the 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, which was the first non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. Tetley sailed the Victress, a plywood trimaran that also doubled as his home.

He completed the circumnavigation when he crossed his outgoing track on the evening of 22 April 1969, but at that point he was still from finishing the race and claiming the prize for fastest passage. The Victress at this point was slowly disintegrating, but Tetley thought he was being chased by another trimaran piloted by Donald Crowhurst, so instead of nursing his ailing boat along, he continued to sail as hard as he could.

Nigel Tetley was cremated near Dover. Mourners included his wife, Eve, and fellow Golden Globe sailors Robin Knox-Johnston and Chay Blyth.

Eve Tetley died on 22 February 2018.