Britain's celebrated "old man of the sea" - Sir Francis Chichester - remains in hospital in Plymouth where his condition on Wednesday (23 August) was reported to be weak.

Sir Francis has been suffering from a serious spinal illness since he arrived back in Britain after being forced to withdraw from this year's single-handed trans-Atlantic race from Plymouth to New York.

Sir Francis won the first-ever race in 1960 and since then has chalked up some remarkable achievements - including his now famous solo round-the-world voyage in 1966 and 67.

Sir Francis Chichester, who will be seventy-one on September 17, is known throughout the world mainly for his navigation and sailing feast. But he's also a distinguished aviator whose early achievements included a solo flight from Britain to Australia in 1929 - the second person to do so. He also made the first east to west solo flight from New Zealand to Australia across the Tasman Sea in 1931, and in the same year made the first long-distance solo seaplane flight from New Zealand to Japan.

But the achievement for which he's best known is his one-stop (Sydney) global circumnavigation at record speed which ended in 1967.

Many times during his sea voyage, anxiety mounted for the long sailor when he remained out of touch with land for long periods of time. But he inevitably turned up, safely, as he did this year during the latest trans-Atlantic single-handed race. But on the last occasion, ill health forced him to pull out of the race and to return to Plymouth before completing the distance.

He was made a Commander, Order of the British Empire in 1964 and knighted in a public ceremony by Queen Elizabeth in 1967 after completing his round-the-world solo sea trip.