DEEP WATER

Year: 2006
USA: IFC Films
UK: Pathe Distribution
Cast: Donald Crowhurst, Clare Crowhurst, Simon Crowhurst, Santiago Franchessi, Ted Hynds, Donald Kerr, Robin Knox-Johnston, Françoise Moitessier de Cazalet, Ron Winspear, Simon Russell Beale, Jean Badin
Directors: Louise Osmond, Jerry Rothwell
Country: UK
USA & UK: 93 mins
USA Rated: PG for thematic elements, mild language and incidental smoking
UK Certificate: PG contains mild language
USA Release Date: 31 August 2007 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 15 December 2006 (Limited Release)


Synopsis

In 1968 The Sunday Times announces the first non-stop, single handed round-the-world sailing race. The rules state that anyone who attempts a non-stop circumnavigation is automatically entered. There are two prizes; the Golden Globe for the first man home and £5,000 for the fastest voyage. Competitors are told they must leave before the 31st October to avoid the full fury of a winter spent in the Southern Ocean - the seas below 40° South where strong westerly winds collide with icy currents from the South Pole to create relentless storms and freak violent waves and troughs.

Narrated by Tilda Swinton, DEEP WATER is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst is a 36-year-old father of four whose marine electronics business is ailing. Staking everything in his attempt to win the fastest voyage prize, he leaves behind his wife and young children. He is an amateur yachtsman who enters the most daring nautical challenge ever - the very first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race.

As the race progresses, Crowhurst's reports of his positions at sea show that, after a slow start, he is beginning to cover ever greater daily distances, surprising press and public alike, before he begins to set new world records for distances covered in the course of a day. Headline after headline is being printed - not just across Britain but also across the globe. Crowhurst is fast becoming the darling of the tabloids, hailed as a nautical wonder with the world's gaze upon his lonely and potentially life-threatening journey.

But, as the world waits on tenterhooks for this extraordinary man to cross the finish line and sail into port to a hero's welcome, the jaw-dropping truth of his ten month voyage is revealed that things have gone terribly wrong for Donald Crowhurst... Eventually Clare Crowhurst is told that Teignmouth Electron has been found abandoned in the Atlantic. As the grief stricken family struggle to come to terms with Donald's death, Rodney Hallworth flies out to collect Donald's logbooks and film recordings. Hallworth informs Clare that her husband never went round the world and he sells the logbooks to a national newspaper. Crowhurst's body is never recovered. Teignmouth Electron lies rotting on Cayman Brac in the West Indies.

From the producer of TOUCHING THE VOID, DEEP WATER is directed by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell. DEEP WATER uses Donald Crowhurst's original 16mm films and tape recordings to re-construct his extraordinary journey. Much of this incredible archive has not been seen for over 30 years and was only recently re-discovered by the production. DEEP WATER also includes interviews with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Francoise Moitessier and marks the first time in thirty years that Donald Crowhurst's family have broken their silence to talk about the events.