One of a set of 9 colour photographs of Donald Crowhurst's abandoned trimaran, edition 1/6.
Tacita Dean is a British artist who works primarily with film and photography. The sea is a recurring theme in her work. In her series Teignmouth Electron, Cayman Brac, she documents the state of the abandoned trimaran of Donald Crowhurst. An amateur participant in the 1968 Golden Globe race, Crowhurst achieved tragic fame when it was reported that he filed false reports of his progress, and ended up disappearing mysteriously at sea. Indeed his trimaran, the Teighmouth Electron, was discovered with no trace of Crowhurst aboard. Tacita Dean’s photographs of its remains beached in the Caribbean serve as a forensic, memorial surrogate to Crowhurst’s disappearance at sea.
The emergency flares that Crowhurst would have sent off have been found amongst the wreckage of the trimaran, but they give no indication as to whether Crowhurst’s disappearance at sea was accidental or intentional.