The Vanishing Sailor: Donald Crowhurst and the Golden Globe Race Mystery

In 1968, an amateur sailor named Donald Crowhurst set out from England in a homemade trimaran to compete in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race—the first ever solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. But what began as a bold quest for fame and fortune soon turned into one of the most baffling mysteries in maritime history.

With an untested boat, limited experience, and mounting financial pressure, Crowhurst quickly found himself in trouble. Rather than turn back and face ruin, he began faking his journey, submitting false radio reports and logbooks from the middle of the Atlantic. As other competitors dropped out, Crowhurst’s deception pushed him closer to the spotlight—and to the edge of his sanity.

Nine months later, his boat, Teignmouth Electron, was found adrift in the Atlantic. The sails were intact. Supplies were untouched. But Donald Crowhurst was gone. What investigators found in his recovered logbooks shocked the world—philosophical ramblings, dual logs, and evidence of a mind in collapse.

Was it madness? Guilt? A cosmic revelation? Or all three?

This is the true story of a man who vanished into the ocean and into legend. A tale of ambition, pressure, isolation—and the deep, unknowable silence of the sea.

Become a Patreon or Apple + subscriber now for ealry and ad free access from as little as $1.69 a week. All the details here

Subscribe to Crime at Bedtimes Youtube channel HERE

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(245)

From the Vault - Sin City Shadows

Hello legends, Jack here, host of Crime at Bedtime. I'm currently travelling to the US because my other show, One Minute Remaining, was lucky enough to be nominated for an award. I’ll be back very soo...

3 Kesä 18min

Introducing - The Just Sleep Podcast

"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1904, featuring Holmes's confrontation with a ruthless blackmailer who prey...

3 Kesä 42min

From the Vault - Lars Mittank

31 Touko 20min

Should I Marry a Murderer? The Tony Parsons Case

On 29 September 2017, retired Royal Navy veteran and cancer survivor Tony Parsons set out on a 104-mile charity bike ride through the Scottish Highlands. He stopped at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel for a ...

27 Touko 34min

The Seven Year Dream

In June 2025, a 19 year old woman in Lyon, France, was placed into a medically induced coma. For the next three weeks, she lay still in a hospital bed, kept alive by machines while her body healed. Bu...

26 Touko 22min

The Woman in the Bushland

On the evening of 3 January 2014, a 39 year old woman was found in bushland at West Hoxton in Sydney's south west. Her skin was peeling from her body. She had suffered horrific burns to over 80 per ce...

24 Touko 22min

D.B. Cooper

On 24 November 1971, a quiet man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Flight 305, collected $200,000 in cash and four parachutes… then stepped out of a Boeing 727 into the night over t...

23 Touko 36min

The Vanishing Act

On a typical spring break night in 2006, 27-year-old medical student Brian Shaffer stepped into a bar with friends, but he was never seen leaving. What began as an evening of bar hopping in Columbus, ...

23 Touko 22min