hundreds of civilians are said to be trapped in their homes by the latest round of fighting in yemen. pro—government forces, backed by saudi arabia, are said to have the upper—hand in the battle to take the city of hudaydah. now on bbc news, it's 50 years since sir robin knox—johnston sailed non—stop around the world. to mark this unique anniversary, sir robin talks about his epic voyage and why he did it. in 1968, robin knox—johnston set off to sail around the world in the sunday times golden globe race. this is his story. when a big wave is coming towards the boat, it's too late to be scared. that shark is stopping me, so he's got to go. i think it's not a bad way

to spend your life actually. robin knox—johnston was an experienced merchant seamen, he'd spent eight years working for the british india company on the shipping routes around india, east and south africa. but in 1967, something happened that would change his life. sir francis chichester he had completed his voyage around the world! he has a proud place in the history of maritime! he stopped once in australia but it was an incredible voyage and i think anyone vaguely interested realised that there's one thing to be done and that was go nonstop and the idea sort of fixed on me really.

and i got some drawings made up of a much bigger boat because a bigger boat goes faster but i could not get any money so eventually i took the boat i got. and where did the name come from? well suhail is a star, one of the navigation stars and its roughly sort of northwest and the wind in the persian gulf where i have been working for four or five years they named this particular wind the suhaili and i thought well, actually that's the direction of england. my wife's name is sue, so it seemed a tactful thing to do. so what came first? your desire to sail nonstop or the sunday times? i was writing a book about the voyage back from india which i neverfinished actually and my agent said i'm not going to finish that do something else. so what are you going to do? he said what are you going to do for money, rob a bank.

then he put it to the sunday times. and they sent a journalist to talk to me and he said you might beat chichester which was honest because that isn't what they wanted me to say i'll beat that man. that isn't how i work. so they decided i didn't stand a chance so they don't bother with me. then they realised other people keep doing it so they announced on the 17th of march 1968 that i was in a race they were organising. i never actually entered it. eventually the race was made up of nine competitors. they sailed down the atlantic ocean, past the cape of good hope towards australia and new zealand through the roaring 40s. then around cape horn, up the south atlantic and that across the north atlantic.

the voyage would take at least ten to 12 months. the biggest threat in theory at the beginning was the italian because they had a 60 foot boat. they had to put out into lisbon early on. after that, the most experienced sailor was the frenchman. he had a bigger boat than me. so he knew what he was taking on, therefore he was the threat as far as i was concerned. did they put any conditions or restrictions on your? they tried to. they said initially the race would start on the 31st of october and i said good luck. they said what do you mean? i said i'm going on the 1st ofjune. they said you won't be able to be in our race and i said you're catching on fast. what they couldn't grasp is that suhaili is not a fast boat. you've got to look at cape horn and you want to pass that in mid—summer, to do that i had to leave injune. if i left in october i'd be going around cape horn in the coming of winter and it's a dangerous place at the best of times and even worse in winter. and i was not alone. others said the same thing.

did you ever have any doubts that it could be done? i was 28, 29. i'd been a captain by then. i'm pretty darned experienced, i've sailed my boat 20,000 miles. i know how to build the boat. i felt i had as good a chance as anyone else. of achieving it. and i just felt this is something i've really got to try and do. i don't want to be 90 looking back and saying i wish i did that. can you give us an idea of what the provisions were? it was tins because we did not have freeze—dried foods in those days. so i had some tins of bully beef, steak, baked beans, peas, beans, carrots, potatoes. take fresh food and hope it lasts.

two months will be maximum. eggs greased in vaseline, they last about two months. after that you're on what you've got. tins won't survive in a boat because they'll rust. and then eventually you hear the hissing noise and that's the contents or the gas escaping so you have to treat them. coat them in white paint, take the label off and varnish them to make them last longer. even so i mean towards the end i was getting a lot of tins and every night i'd hear a couple hissing. when you set off, how much of this area was filled with provisions that you needed? well, from there to there was solid. with containers of water, paraffin, patrol for the generator. and other bits and pieces. up the front were shelves.

i took out the banks of book shelves and my food was up there, fresh food was up there, potatoes, onions that kind of thing. in these lockers here they were full of tins. and there were more tins up front as well. and these bunks were still clear but the outer bunks were full of stores, there was not a lot of room to move around. was there a big sendoff? not really, no. people see me off, mother, father, brother. sunday mirror, three of them, a chap from the sunday times. that was basically it. this is it. there's all the background on the boat. they can see where the boat is registered. this is day one. initially, taking it very easy.

i gotjaundice and i knew if i went to hospital i had to go then. for the first month i wasn't pushing very hard. and the signs disappeared and i felt better and i started to push. in 1971, robin recreated parts of his voyage for a bbc television documentary. you know you are pushing on at the same time thinking, getting close to the southern ocean, what would it be like? the first ten days it was bad. that's when i lost my freshwater, smashed up the steering. eventually that led to me

losing the radio. it got knocked over. how scared were you? when a big wave‘s coming towards the boat, it's too late to be scared you have to deal with it. on one occasion, i saw one coming and i realised i had to get down inside the boat where i'd be safe. i was on deck and i got washed off, no question. i went up the rigging. let me show you this one because this is all that instance where i climbed up the mast. in fact the artist has put me halfway up the mast. which is true, that's what i did. and this wave broke right over the boat and disappeared so there's me and two mast and no land for 1500 miles any direction and then the boat shook itself and up she popped.

the reason why you did not broach is you see that blue line there that's the stern which was stopping her from swinging around in front of the wave — if she had done that i'd have been dismounted. basically it's tied onto the post up front, all the way out and back on board and tied back onto the post. but that gives a tremendous amount of resistance and so it holds the stern into the waves. but it stopped her losing control, swinging around in front and when that hits you sideways on you will be rolled and lose the mast. i'd hear the waves coming up over the boat and i'd look to the portals and see them go blue with the water. i knew she was quite safe like that, she was not getting hammered, the boat was comfortable, that is what you spend all your time worrying about, is my boat comfortable. how were you bearing up?

i was doing fine actually. i had a few problems inevitably, battery acid in the eye hurts a bit and stopped me seeing for about a week in one eye. preparing sails, you had to bang your hands to bruise them so you could use the needle because it's so cold. and i didn't have any gloves, i couldn't worked with the gloves anyway. i've been down for five months now, my clothing was damp and you say, if this was easy someone else would have done it. i've got this opportunity. so stop whining and get on with it. made excellent progress getting buffeted by waves, many of which had broken right over the boat. panning heavily at times, this is the worst punishment suhaili has ever taken. so i'm in a gale. i think what's incredible is how neat that writing is when you consider the conditions

you're writing it in. you wedge yourself, you see. the back of the boat inside got my navigation where the radio was and i wedged myself. you can see i was sleeping then, the log hasn't been filled in. but i'm up here, went to bed about midnight. i did in fact and i slept through until after seven in the morning. so you have to try and keep your mind active. i took to learning poetry. one time i could recite the whole of grey's elegy. the lowing herd winds slowly. and leaves the world

to darkness and to me. keeping clean became part of his routine on board suhaili. i'd dive off the boat, swim and climb back on board, get all the sea water out. cover myself in soap and dive off and fresh off and come back on board. in your log, july the 13th, you talk about springing a leak in shark infested waters. it wasn't springing a leak, she was leaking regularly. i thought well i can't go in the southern ocean like this, i have got to stop it and i had some copper that could tack over the part that was leaking. it was about four and a half five feet underwater. you go down and get a tack in and come up for air, go down, put another a tack in, keep the hammer on some string so it's down there ready for you.

and you work away at it and i was working away three or four hours maybe longer but i was aware of this grey shape swimming around me. it wasn't excited, it was just curious. so it went on for a bit longer than expected and got a bit morejerky and i thought time to get out. so i climbed out of the water and of course he would not go away. i've got this half attached piece of copper, i can't afford to lose it that shark is stopping me so he's got to go. so i threw some bait in the water and the scavengers came up and his head broke the surface and i shot him. and i waited half an hourjust to make sure blood and stuff had not attracted mates to come and eat him and eat me at the same time and i went back and finished thejob. there was no choice, he had to go, he was threatening me. the first human contact

i had after 147 days actually, apart from the radio was the pilot vessel off melbourne andi sailed up to him and it was quite a reasonably calm day and so the boat comes up and its signalflag is up, british flag and he looked down

and said yeah and i said hello, could you take my mail he said clear off. i said look i am 147 days out from the uk, i wonder if you could report me and take some mail and stuff. well they did actually report me because a couple of days later it was a sunny, calm day. and i got everything out and i was lying out there naked enjoying the sun after being white from being covered and i got the generator running and everything is fine and all well and i'm cruising along there i am andi became aware of another noise. i looked up and there was this aircraft and a photographer taking pictures, i put a towel on quickly! what do you want to do when the voyage is over? hot bath. anything else? steak, egg and chips with potatoes and peas and a beautiful juicy sirloin steak, medium rare, two eggs

and lemon meringue pie and the first thing, a pint of english beer. and he said, i've got the mail and i said bring it overand he said i can't. what do you mean you can't, pass it to me. and he said no. if i give you this mail it outside assistance, i said, oh you're joking. so he sat on the boat five yards away reading my letters to me. as he passed the horn, the sea was almost miraculously calm, and he had every reason to celebrate. january 17. we've passed it! to add to my pleasure there is a piece of the times in the tin, i have

something new to read. i carefully remove the foil wrapping and the aroma hits me. i cut a slice and make it last a bit if i can. i had no idea where the other competitors were after to new zealand. i've heard of people i'd not heard of before, they were just names to me. i knew that ridgway was out, king was out, i knew that. and matissier was behind me and very quick down the atlantic and slower in the southern ocean. he decided not to finish, changed course and headed to the pacific islands. than his boat was found abandoned. it later became known that he realised his boat couldn't have withstood the southern oceans and had faked his voyage. with the realisation that his deception would have been discovered he appears to have committed suicide. he's only left robin knox—johnston in the race. you were missing for

137 days, did you know you were missing? well i wasn't missing because i knew where i was. but the rest of the world i was missing. every time i saw a ship i tried calling up. i called up one off the equator when i was there and i thought boy, these will be the last humans i see. when i called them with the lamp, no answer. distress rockets, he just sailed straight past. how could you treat that appendicitis? well i didn't have the drugs you need to keep it under control so i went on a sloppy diet. didn't eat very much at all. i went on soft food like porridge and things like that. i did not eat meat, vegetables, anything like that. i was doubled up in the cockpit for three days, i was in a lot of pain. and then it began to fade. i eventually thought i'd poisoned myself with my cooking.

at what point did you manage to make contact with the uk and effectively plan your homecoming? it was easter saturday actually. i think it was the 5th of april. about 7am i called up a british ship and the chap on watch signalled back and of course we had probably been to the same nautical college and i suddenly realised the ways he's acknowledging he's getting what i'm saying. so i said what ship, i sent back suhaili reported missing. m i k —the code for please report me. he went repeat the name. yes! i then had to rely on him. 20 to nine my brother picked up

the phone to say i've been sighted. and the mirror stopped the presses and changed the front page and there was a lot going on ashore which i knew nothing about. robin knoxjohnston‘s parents waiting on the isles of scilly for the first site of the son they had not seen for over 300 days. they were a guest of one newspaper group which charted is the biggest ship on the isles. the queen of the isles, also waiting in the harbour, the high—speed launch traded by the paper that sponsored his voyage. i got a code with the mirror. which the radio worked long enough to get to the cross and then of corse the fuse went again.

towards the end the search hadn't found him we were beginning to get worried because while someone is out in mid ocean you think of them in mid ocean you don't worry but when people started looking for them and don't find them then you begin to wonder. i think last week we were worried. they saidt what time do you finish and i said nine o'clock and they said why? well they will meet you. but she has got a hair appointment at nine o'clock. i said can she have it done earlier?. 0k, the wind changed, i

didn't finish until 320 in the afternoon. which time her hair was ruined by the wind anyway. the canon has gone. the canon have gone. of course i went into the harbour and the first people that came to me were customs. interesting. and theyjumped on board two immaculate customs officers. good afternoon captain, where from? it was the age—old question, they were doing it right. that was it that was the finish. as well as your achievements there were two prizes. the trophy and a cash prize. where is the trophy? the trophy is at my old school, i want to encourage people to think outside the box. dream beyond so that is where it is. he was also awarded the £5,000 for being the fastest but decided to give the money to the widow and family of donald crowhurst who were now facing financial ruin. i never expected to win it so it was not something i budgeted to have.

also i felt huge sympathy for the crowhursts, four children, oldest 12, going to lose their house, lost their husband, their dad, i don't think my conscience would have allowed that so it seemed the right thing to do. since winning the race, robin knox—johnston has circumnavigated the globe three more times including a solo nonstop in 2007. he was awarded a cbe in 1969. and knighted in 1995. and in 1996, he founded the clipper race where members of the public can take part either for the whole circumnavigation or a particular leg. you give ordinary people now an opportunity to follow into your footsteps. how important is that legacy for you? every time you see someone you helped sail around the world or achieve their sailing

dream, then say you gave me the idea i think all that was worth it. they've achieved something special with their lives and then across an ocean. of course i'm proud of that. proud of all those people taking out of their humdrum lives and doing more than they thought. i think is not a bad way to spend your life actually. i look back at it and say well, 29—year—old me made the right decision to go. the 29—year—old me was probably almost the best prepared for that voyage and the 29—year—old me was stubborn enough to push on. faced with that opportunity today would i go for it? the chances are if i could find it i probably would still. hello once again.

foggia and the weather is not that great but things will improve slowly through the afternoon. and to something like this. certainly to northern ireland sunny spells and some pretty big showers as well. it is all coming from an area low— pressure is all coming from an area low—pressure out to the west of the british isles. scotland submerged under the figures cloud and that is why you have the worst of the rain and likely to stay that way for some time yet. but slowly from the west conditions just improving. rain hanging around fora

conditions just improving. rain hanging around for a time. we end up with single figure temperatures across scotland. elsewhere slightly milder across the south western corner because we have more cloud coming in overnight. and northern ireland in the morning, the south west of england, a little bit of rain once again. not with the intensity of today. the bass chance of staying brighter and a bit warmer out towards the eastern side of the british isles. up to 19 degrees. and the pollen levels away from those wetter areas again will be high. in the north—east of scotland you have the north—east of scotland you have the best of the conditions if you do suffer. so underused set of weather fronts spreading in cloud and rain. parts of scotland and northern ireland and the far north of england

as well. closer to the weather fronts, the best of the conditions further away from those fronts and down towards the south and east. it will turn out to be a decent day, the midlandsjoining will turn out to be a decent day, the midlands joining in will turn out to be a decent day, the midlandsjoining in for a time as well. and then the possibility of rain just pushed as well. and then the possibility of rainjust pushed a as well. and then the possibility of rain just pushed a little further east into the afternoon. and that is the trend for the southern part of written for the middle part of the week, re/max out about 27 degrees, a real taste of summer. but something more unsettled further to the north. this is bbc news. i'm vicky young. the headlines at 2. a second major fire in four years at one of scotland's architectural landmarks, the glasgow school of art. the scale of damage is extensive. the government promises to help with restoration. we do not know what the structural damage is, the damage to the stonework, so i think it is too early to say what is going to be

required, but what i can say, absolutely, is we will be there to help. the home secretary uses an exceptional power to release illegal cannabis oil to severely epileptic billy caldwell after doctors said it was a "medical emergency". billy is getting the best care in the world here, and i feel safe here at this particular hospital with billy. so, again, it isjust one step at a time, praying for a miracle, really.