Sir Robin Knox-Johnston returned to singlehanded round the world racing in the 2006-7 VELUX 5 OCEANS; the equivalent of a modern day footballer going out on to the pitch to find himself up against Pele or George Best, or a boxer in the ring with Mohammed Ali. In an era when there are very few 'firsts' left to achieve, Knox-Johnston entered the history books when in 1969 he became the first man ever to have sailed around the world non-stop. Knox-Johnston's racing machine was a very different proposition - almost twice the length of his double-ender Suhaili, Saga Insurance was originally Giovanni Soldini's Fila, winner of the 1998/99 race.

A sailing idol for many and mentor to a fortunate few, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston instantly forms the focal point when a group of offshore yachtsmen gather: his enormous breadth of experience, inexhaustible repertoire of sailing anecdotes and rolling, throaty laugh are a hypnotic combination. The ramrod back, booming voice and military bearing are testament to time spent in the British Merchant Navy and Royal Navy Reserve during the late 1950s and 60s and once encountered, the strikingly fit 67 year old is seldom forgotten.

In July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent 21 hours on the Moon collecting rock samples and transmitting video images and historic soundbites to Earth. Three months before these astronauts first walked on the Moon, Knox-Johnston sailed his double-ended, 32ft ketch, Suhaili, into Falmouth Harbour. He had won the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race becoming the first man ever to have sailed around the world non-stop. Knox-Johnston sailed this singlehanded after 312 days and 30,123 miles alone. While Armstrong and Aldrin were able to chat constantly with 'Mission Control', Knox-Johnston's radio equipment failed after two-and-a-half months at sea, leaving him with no means of communication and - in a pre- GPS era - reliant upon navigation via sextant and weather information from a mercury barometer.

Eight years later, Knox-Johnston returned to the open ocean and undertook a second circumnavigation as joint skipper of the fully-crewed Condor in the 1977 Whitbread Round The World Race. In 1993 at the age of 58 - when many sailors have firmly put thoughts of offshore racing behind them - Knox-Johnston teamed-up with the first mate from Condor, Sir Peter Blake, becoming the only non-French team to lift the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest, non-stop lap of the planet on 92ft catamaran, ENZA New Zealand, in a time of 74d 22h 18m 22s.

A full 37 years after his triumph in the Golden Globe Race, Knox-Johnson sailed one of the world's fastest and most powerful monohulls into the most remote oceans on the planet: a mission that would intimidate any yachtsman half his age.

Many believed Knox-Johnston wouldn't be able to compete at his age onboard a 60 foot yacht. Saga Insurance was an old generation boat, slower than his competitors' vessels. However, he set off with the rest of the fleet into the Bay of Biscay, only to be forced into La Coruna after getting knocked down and damaging his mast track.

Back on the race track, Knox-Johnston easily settled back into life at sea, enjoying the experience of solo sailing, and even taking a dip in the Southern Ocean to clear a fishing net off his keel. He was behind the pace of the leaders Stamm and Shiraishi, and moved into third place when fellow Brits Thomson and Golding were forced out of the race. He stayed ahead of Basurko and Dalton, eventually arriving third into Fremantle.

After extensive work on the boat during the stopover, the re-start to Norfolk was disappointing for Knox-Johnston, who had to return to Fremantle after less than 24 hours due to a malfunctioning autopilot system. After setting off again, he became locked in a drag race with Dalton and Basurko across the wild expanses of the deep Southern Ocean all the way to Cape Horn. Basurko beat the sailing legend into Norfolk, setting up a tense final leg to Bilbao with the skippers only separated by 24 hours. Although Knox-Johnston beat Basurko into his home port, the Basque skipper took third place on the podium overall.

Despite missing out on a podium spot by a matter of hours, the race was a huge success for Knox-Johnston. Simply finishing the race was an amazing accomplishment and Knox-Johnston returned to the UK hailed a hero, winning UK Yachtsman of the Year for an unprecedented third time. His presence in the race brought the VELUX 5 OCEANS to a huge global audience who followed the amazing adventure of the sailing icon.