Sir Charles Blyth (born 14 May 1940), known as Chay Blyth, is a Scottish

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

sman and rower. He was the first person to sail single-handed non-stop westwards around the world (1971), on a 59-foot boat called '' British Steel''.

Early life

Blyth was born in

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

. He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Parachute Regiment when he was 18 and was promoted to

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

at the age of 21.

Rowing and sailing career

Later he founded the Challenge Business to organise the 1992/1993 British Steel Challenge in 1989. This event allowed novices to sail around the world in a professionally organised race. In September 2007, Challenge Business went into administration after Sir Chay was unable to find a sponsor for the 2008-09 Global Challenge Race. The British Steel Challenge was followed by two successive BT Global Challenge races in 1996/97 and 2000/01. However, a downturn in the sponsorship market meant that the 2004/2005 Global Challenge race set off without a title sponsor.

Business career

Sir Chay started the company Challenge Business, to operate first the British Steel Challenge 1992–93 and then the Global Challenge Round the World yacht races. The success of the British Steel Challenge carved the way for the future success of the Global Challenge races. Sir Chay is chairman of Inspiring Performance. He also heads the board of directors at train company First Great Western – Greater Western franchise. He is non-executive chairman of the franchise which was formed to run the new and enlarged franchise from 1 April 2006. The franchise combines the previous First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains franchises. As chairman of Challenge Business, he was the mentor for Dee Caffari on her successful bid to be the first woman to sail around the world against the prevailing winds and currents in 2005–2006.

Awards and accolades

*In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, Blyth was created a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

for services to

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

.United Kingdom list: *A street has been named after him in his birth town of Hawick. It is known as "Chay Blyth Place". *3rd Worthing Scout Groups Blyth Cub Pack is named after him. *Awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Technology from

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

in 1994. *The

Chartered Institute of Marketing The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) was founded in 1911. It has over 30,000 members, including more than 3,000 registered Chartered Marketers. CIM offers 130 study centres in 36 countries, and exam centres in 132 countries. In 1952 Prince ...

awarded The Companion of Honour to Sir Chay in 2000 for his services to the Profession of Marketing.

References

External links

English Rose III

Grant Thornton Press Release

British Steel Yacht Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Chay 1940 births British Parachute Regiment soldiers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Living people Ocean rowers Sportspeople from Hawick Recipients of the British Empire Medal Scottish male rowers Scottish male sailors (sport) Scottish soldiers Single-handed circumnavigating sailors People in sports awarded knighthoods Volvo Ocean Race sailors