Sailing heroes

[Valiente]

Moitessier for being incredibly skilled and completely individualistic, the Smeatons and the Hiscocks, for cruising when cruising was 99% unassisted and very basic, and Yves Parlier (the guy who cooked his own carbon mast repair by beaching an Open 60 on a sub-antarctic island!) have to be in there.

Alan Villiers, Irving Johnson and Eric Newby, for their first-hand accounts of the last, grueling days of commercial sail have to also rank.

[JomsViking]

I'd second Moitessier.
Another very skilled sailor is Paul Elvström: ISAF Hall of Fame : Paul Elvström
And some fantastic women: Dame Ellen MacArthur, Dee Caffari, and Samantha Davies

[JomsViking]

And Hal Roth!

[sailortjk1]

Mike,
No BS?

Thats an amazing story!
Never heard of your Great Grandpa, but I know now.

[bubb2]

Tim, It's for real. My mother's maiden's name is Blackburn and it goes right back to Howard.