0:00:02 > 0:00:08'Britain is an island, surrounded by a cold and unforgiving sea.
0:00:08 > 0:00:13'For centuries, it protected us from attack, but to prosper and thrive,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'we would need to do more then just hide behind her saltwater shield.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22'Britain needed brave men, willing to venture out into the unknown,
0:00:22 > 0:00:24'and she needed good boats to take them there.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29'I've spent my life at sea.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34'Now I'm going to take passage on six boats, that together tell the story of modern Britain.
0:00:34 > 0:00:41'Built for exploration, war, fishing, industry, and our very survival,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44'these are the boats that built Britain,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'and changed the way we live forever.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54'This time, I'm sailing on a replica of the boat
0:00:54 > 0:00:59'that delivered the most important message in British naval history,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04'a message that confirmed Britain as the world's first maritime superpower.'
0:01:23 > 0:01:26I'm on the deck of one of the unsung heroes of British history,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29HMS Pickle, the boat that delivered
0:01:29 > 0:01:33the most important piece of naval news of all time.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Britain had just thrashed the forces of France and Spain.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41Now, we really ruled the waves after the Battle of Trafalgar,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45and this is the little ship that brought the news home to a waiting nation.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54'Today, the Royal Navy's ships circle the globe unhindered,
0:01:54 > 0:02:00'but at the end of the 18th century, the world's oceans were a much more dangerous place.
0:02:00 > 0:02:07'In 1805, Britain had just fought the most significant naval battle in her history.'
0:02:07 > 0:02:09After years of bloody struggle,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13the French and the Spanish were finally thoroughly defeated on the high seas.
0:02:15 > 0:02:21The challenge now was how to get the good news home to the nation, and the King.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28'Today, we take instant communications very much for granted.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32'This modern Navy vessel is equipped with every communication device imaginable,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35'but, back at the beginning of the 19th century,
0:02:35 > 0:02:41'relaying important military news back home could take weeks, sometimes months.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59'In 1805, HMS Victory had just survived the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08'Thousands of men had perished, and many more lay wounded.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14'And though Nelson, England's hero, was dead, the battle had been won.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24'But, back in Britain, where fear of a French invasion was rampant,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27'nobody had any idea of the momentous scenes
0:03:27 > 0:03:32'that had just unfolded 1,000 miles away, off the coast of Spain.'
0:03:35 > 0:03:38HMS Victory, an upper gun deck.
0:03:40 > 0:03:47Absolute precision, naval fashion, as it was before the battle, and as it would have been weeks afterwards.
0:03:47 > 0:03:53But on the day, in the hours following the conflict, this place would have been so different.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Guns upended off their carriages, holes in the side, splinters,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01scores across the deck where cannonballs had run.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06Men, still lying where they fell, others being carried below to the doctor.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Smoke, blood, unimaginable chaos.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15The last thing on people's minds would have been getting the news home to England.
0:04:17 > 0:04:24'But the fleet's new commander, Admiral Collingwood, knew that getting the news back was vital.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29'What he needed now was a ship to carry the message.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34'His choice for this critical mission must have surprised everyone.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38'To naval eyes, HMS Pickle was hardly a ship at all.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40'She was only 73ft on deck.
0:04:40 > 0:04:47'She had no large guns, and, worse, she had a strange, suspiciously modern rig.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51'During the battle, she'd run errands and picked up survivors -
0:04:51 > 0:04:55'valuable work, but hardly the stuff of heroes.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01'For a little ship like the Pickle, being chosen to deliver this news was an unimaginable honour,
0:05:01 > 0:05:08'and it was a pay day, too, with £500 - a fortune in 1805 - the reward for completing the mission.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14'But what should have been the Pickle's moment of glory almost ended in failure,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19'as she became engaged in a race with a bigger, faster ship,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23'determined to take the reward money for herself.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32'The race is one of the greatest sea stories of them all.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36'So, just what was it about the Pickle that enabled her to hold her own,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41'against a ship, that, in most conditions, should have left her dead in the water?
0:05:43 > 0:05:46'Walking around the decks of the Pickle,
0:05:46 > 0:05:52'I'm immediately struck by just how different she is to most of Nelson's Navy ships.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59'By the time of Trafalgar, the British Navy had developed a massive shipbuilding industry -
0:05:59 > 0:06:04'capable of turning out huge ships of the line at an amazing rate.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07'They were impressive fighting machines,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10'but, as sailing vessels, they were extremely limited.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17'In fact, their sail plan had hardly changed in over 100 years.
0:06:17 > 0:06:23'The sails were square rigged, and set from wooden crosspieces, known as yards.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28'It meant they were good at sailing with the wind pushing them from behind.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33'But with the breeze coming from any other direction, they were far, far less effective.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39'Unlike the little Pickle, a schooner, with her more modern rig.'
0:06:41 > 0:06:44This is the main mast, not a square yard on it,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47to the eye of an old-time captain in the Royal Navy,
0:06:47 > 0:06:49that would have looked bare naked.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55He would have expected to see three or four yards going across it, to drive his ship downwind,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57and they'd have done that fine.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03But when he put a hard on the wind, and tried to tack up towards the wind's eye, no dice, mate.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07What you needed then was a big, long boom like this,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10with a great big sail on it, that would lie close to the wind,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and make the boat fly into the direction
0:07:13 > 0:07:17that sailors from time immemorial hadn't believed she could really go.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19That is the magic of the schooner.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'It wasn't just the sails that were revolutionary.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28'She had a hull to much.'
0:07:29 > 0:07:34The Pickle was far from typical of the naval vessels of her time.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38This is a heavy battleship, but it gives you some idea of what they tended to look like.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43The Pickle was completely different, much finer, much more of a sailing vessel.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50'Most Navy ships of the time were built around their need to carry a huge and heavy arsenal of guns.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54'Glorious, but ungainly vessels to sail,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56'unlike the Pickle.'
0:07:57 > 0:08:02See that, that lovely, wine glass sweep of the boat?
0:08:02 > 0:08:04This great big dead drop,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07straight down into the water aft, at the back end.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Never mind the propeller, that's just a temporary feature for the 20th century.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15That wouldn't have been here. What we're seeing is the magic of the Pickle.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18If you look at the bow,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22she's... Ooh, lovely, like a knife going through the water.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27At five or six knots, you can see her go through the water, you won't know where she's been.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28She's what we call slippery.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33'By today's standards, the Pickle's hull looks conservative.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39'Back in 1805, many Navy men would have considered her dangerously unconventional.
0:08:39 > 0:08:46'But her radical new shape gave her one huge advantage over older designs.'
0:08:46 > 0:08:48This section of the boat here,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52all the way forward to where she starts to V out,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56is actually like a wall, straight down into the water.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Now, look at it like this.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00If you had a barrel in the water, and you pushed it,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03you'd expect it to go sideways quite nicely, wouldn't you?
0:09:03 > 0:09:06If you had a sheet of plywood, and you pushed it into the water,
0:09:06 > 0:09:09held it down, and tried to push it sideways,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11you'd meet tremendous resistance. It's as easy as that.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15What you need is what sailors call dead drop in the hull.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Dead drop is that wall, that stops the boat going sideways.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21Pickle's got lots of it.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23This is what was developing, fore-and-aft rig boats,
0:09:23 > 0:09:28that would resist the temptation of the wind to shove them away to kingdom come.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32They pointed at the wind, they sailed upwind like bandits,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36and the square rig vessels, with shapes like barrels,
0:09:36 > 0:09:37they couldn't match them.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43But just where had Pickle and her uncompromising design come from?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Accounts from the time suggest the Pickle
0:09:45 > 0:09:49was an American or Bermudan boat captured in the Caribbean
0:09:49 > 0:09:51and sailed back to Britain by a forward-thinking officer
0:09:51 > 0:09:54who'd seen what a handy little boat she was.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Unhindered by convention, the Americans were completely rethinking
0:09:59 > 0:10:05boat design and the old powers ignored their ideas at their peril.
0:10:05 > 0:10:12It was the new world, there were new men with new ideas and they rattled the Royal Navy.
0:10:17 > 0:10:24The Pickle was certainly unorthodox, and her skipper, Lieutenant Lapenotiere, was unusual too.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28From a humble Cornish background, he was a far cry
0:10:28 > 0:10:30from the well-connected officer class
0:10:30 > 0:10:32more common in the navy at the time.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38Gordon Frickers has researched the Pickle and her commanding officer extensively.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42He was considered a solid, reliable officer. He didn't seem to make friends easily.
0:10:42 > 0:10:49He missed a number of chances to enjoy the patronage of officers who rose and became very distinguished.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Many other officers rose through the ranks faster than him.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56On the other hand, he had a fairly successful career.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59He captured a number of prizes. He never lost a ship.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01So he may have not been very sociable,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03and some of the officers were very sociable.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09A lot of them sang and danced and put on theatre and all sorts of things like that.
0:11:09 > 0:11:15But he was clearly a very good seaman, a very good person to be under the command of.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19And Pickle was a particularly difficult ship to command.
0:11:19 > 0:11:25Small, wet and uncomfortable, the Pickle might have been hard to command, but with a modern design
0:11:25 > 0:11:31and a down-to-earth skipper, she was an early sign of a new mood sweeping the Navy.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35For centuries, it had been who you knew that had opened the way ahead.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41Now, the Navy were trying to ensure that it was what you knew that counted.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48And that knowledge was tested here in Portsmouth, where the dreaded naval exams were held.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59Introduced in 1792, the exams were designed to create a navy run on merit.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06The Pickle's skipper, Lieutenant Lapenotiere, was one of this new breed.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12And he'd have faced a situation just like this when he came to take his exams.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16As I'm about to find out, a daunting prospect.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20You're going large and you see a ship in the wind's eye.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23How are you going to proceed to chase her?
0:12:23 > 0:12:25OK...sir.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30I'm large which means I'm sailing away from the wind.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And I see a chase
0:12:33 > 0:12:37in the wind's eye, directly to windward of me.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42'The exams could last up to five hours and covered every aspect of command.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48'Any weakness or slight mistake and the officer would be failed,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52'with years passing before he could reapply for promotion.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59'I suspect that if I'd been taking this exam for real I wouldn't have got that vital promotion.
0:12:59 > 0:13:05'But young Lieutenant Lapenotiere had done his homework and he managed rather better.
0:13:05 > 0:13:11'And passing the exam meant he was now qualified to take command of his own vessel.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13'HMS Pickle.
0:13:16 > 0:13:24'The original Pickle was lost on a shoal in 1808, but this boat is an exact replica.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29'And gives us a perfect insight into how she would have handled all those years ago.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34'She weighed a mere 127 tonnes.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38'And with only ten guns, she didn't pack much of a punch either.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'But she was handy, a small agile craft,
0:13:42 > 0:13:47'capable of pulling off manoeuvres that larger ships wouldn't have dared attempt.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54'I'm raring to get her out to sea to find out just how she handles for myself.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59'To discover what this little ship is really capable of,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02'I've brought along a shipmate of mine Craig Nutter.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05'Craig's a circumnavigator and racing professional
0:14:05 > 0:14:09'who knows more about sailing fast than anyone I know.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16'Today, there's a force eight to storm ten predicted,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20'not the sort of weather you'd normally consider setting out in.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23'But we've got an experienced crew, a proven ship,
0:14:23 > 0:14:29'and these are exactly the sort of conditions that will allow us to see what the Pickle is really made of.'
0:14:34 > 0:14:39So I've got my little GPS here and it shows us doing between about 7.5 and 8.25 knots.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44You can really feel the power. There's a bit of a heel on the boat and we are moving nicely.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52That's great. We've just taken a gust of wind
0:14:52 > 0:14:55over the quarter which is where sailing vessels like it.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00And the boat staggered, leaned a bit, came up and took off and we're on our way.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03What a great feeling, and you know,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07this schooner really surprised a lot of the old boys with the square riggers.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17As we head out of the straits, the wind begins to pick up
0:15:17 > 0:15:21and I'm keen to find out what is it that makes this little ship sail so well.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25So, Craig. Topsail schooner.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- What makes her such?- Well, we've got to look round the boat itself.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34There's the main mast with the mainsail on it which has a standard 4.5 type gaff mainsail.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38We have the foresail here, which is on the foremast.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43And the main mast itself is, under schooner configurations, normally taller than the foremast.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47What's interesting, it's called a topsail schooner because if we look up, we can see a little topsail.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50that's sat above the foresail on the foremast.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52And then we come to the jibs up forward.
0:15:52 > 0:15:59The jibs themselves help balance the power and force of the big sails at the back to actually her track along.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04As we break out into open water, Craig picks up a sign that shows us it won't be
0:16:04 > 0:16:10too long before we can really put this sail-plan through its paces.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13I've just noticed on the water over here a slightly darker patch,
0:16:13 > 0:16:19a line of it, about two minutes away and I imagine that's going to be quite a big increase in wind.
0:16:19 > 0:16:25Craig's as good as his word and soon we've a gale force 8 coming over the port quarter.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31The perfect opportunity for me to find out just how well the Pickle's hull and sails really work together.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38She's actually amazingly light.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Beautifully-balanced vessel.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I'm steering her here comfortably with one hand.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48And there's many a gaff cutter half this size you couldn't do that on with this wind.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54She's balancing beautifully. And she's driving along like a sweetheart,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58absolutely lovely. I'm just steering her on the edge of the wind here.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03I've just gone a little bit too high. The wind's just getting round the back of my headsail.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06There she goes. You feel her take? Isn't that lovely?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09That's when the sails fill.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12But soon the wind is gusting up even higher.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17- Well, Tom, that's that gust we talked about coming in.- Yep.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19These are challenging conditions for any boat.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23And now the Pickle's crew are fighting to just keep her on track.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Here's the gust.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Right behind us now cos we've actually come onto the wind a bit.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35You can see her crabbing slightly and the force the helmsman's putting in
0:17:35 > 0:17:39- to try and keep the boat tracking straight. - Yeah, he's working now.
0:17:42 > 0:17:49The Pickle is sailing on the edge of her capability, as fast as her length and design will allow.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55You're much closer to the elements on a small ship,
0:17:55 > 0:18:00and contemporary accounts speak of the Pickle as a wet, uncomfortable boat.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09Her fine lines might make her fast but they also allow a lot of water over the rail.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Sweet!
0:18:16 > 0:18:22And with over 40 men on board, conditions must have been wet and miserable, even down below.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Back then it was very, very different.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31The cabin sole that I'm standing on which is as low as it can be today
0:18:31 > 0:18:33in order to get the bilge underneath me
0:18:33 > 0:18:38where, if the boat were leaking, there'd be water sloshing around, I expect it's dry down there now.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40A bit of ballast, that's it.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44But in those days, that's where all the stores were.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48So, that cabin sole was lifted up right up here so there were two decks.
0:18:48 > 0:18:54In there, in that dark, damp glory hole, there were barrels of water, there was all the cheese,
0:18:54 > 0:18:59all the food, the barrels of salt beef, the stores, the cannonballs, the powder.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02The lot was all down there and the guys
0:19:02 > 0:19:06have to live up here, under about four foot six inches of headroom.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10But, somehow, in this cramped, tight space, they managed to maintain
0:19:10 > 0:19:16their morale and drive this ship as fast as anybody could drive her and deliver the goods.
0:19:21 > 0:19:27And in 1805, as the Pickle headed for home, the mood on board ship must have been sky-high.
0:19:27 > 0:19:34Lieutenant Lapenotiere, thinking of his promotion to Commander, and the huge £500 reward.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40But only two days into what should have been a straightforward run north,
0:19:40 > 0:19:45they saw a sight that must have changed the mood in a heartbeat.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49They were being hailed by a larger, more senior vessel,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53a square-rigged sloop of war, HMS Nautilus,
0:19:53 > 0:20:00commanded by a higher-ranking officer, Captain Sykes.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Nautilus commanded the Pickle to stop.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09There, look, the Nautilus. This is where he's come across Sykes, right here, off Cape St Vincent.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14The encounter is faithfully recorded in the Pickle's logs
0:20:14 > 0:20:20and it gives an hour-by-hour account of what was about to turn into an epic race for home.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Normally, Lapenotiere would've had to go on board
0:20:23 > 0:20:24the senior man's boat.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26He'd have been summoned.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28But because he had these dispatches
0:20:28 > 0:20:29and Collingwood had said nothing
0:20:29 > 0:20:34was to divert him, he actually wouldn't move from his own deck
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and this superior officer had to come on board and see him.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43Sykes was trying to snatch the Pickle's mission for himself.
0:20:43 > 0:20:50The meeting between the two captains lasted over an hour as the Pickle's crew waited on tenterhooks.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Would their captain stand tall or would he give in to the demands
0:20:55 > 0:20:57of a determined officer on a bigger
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and what should have been a faster ship?
0:21:02 > 0:21:05As Sykes left the Pickle, Lapenotiere gave his order.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08"Crack on sail, boys."
0:21:11 > 0:21:15But Sykes hadn't given up. He sent a dispatch to Lisbon,
0:21:15 > 0:21:22relieving himself of his duties, under the pretence of making sure Pickle completed her journey safely.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Thus, as you might say, covering his large transom, his rear end,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31just in case anybody gave him a hard time.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Now he's covered, he can give it his best shot
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and he sets off in pursuit of Lapenotiere.
0:21:37 > 0:21:43A day later, the crew of the Pickle were horrified to see HMS Nautilus on the horizon once again.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48This time though, she wasn't stopping.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51She pulled level and then ahead.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57On paper, it was no contest.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03But this was one fight Lapenotiere and the Pickle were determined to win.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06They would have been trimming everything.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08They would have been moving the sheet six inches at a time.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Likely, they held the sheets for the mainsails in hand,
0:22:12 > 0:22:17rather than making them fast, just so they could get every last tiny little bit
0:22:17 > 0:22:23out of the vessel because they knew that that quarter of a knot could give them an hour at six knots.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25This was a seven or eight day run home.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29That could give them seven or eight hours which would be a whole tide
0:22:29 > 0:22:32which would leave the other vessel blown away.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37Every little bit counted and they were really going to work at it, night and day.
0:22:39 > 0:22:45Both ships were making good headway but as they headed up to Finisterre, the square-rigged Nautilus
0:22:45 > 0:22:50pushed ahead, driven by following winds that suited their sail-plan perfectly.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58In the Bay of Biscay, weather conditions worsened.
0:22:58 > 0:23:05The Pickle's crew were pushing the boat to her limits and in the rough seas, she started taking on water.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Now, Lapenotiere wasn't just racing,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13he was also fighting to stay alive. What does he do?
0:23:13 > 0:23:15We know, because his pumps weren't working,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17he was having a bucket chain to bail the water out.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- Frightened man with a bucket! - Exactly.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Also he takes the extraordinary act
0:23:22 > 0:23:26of actually throwing the guns and gun carriages overboard.
0:23:26 > 0:23:32For a navy ship, throwing your guns over the side was a last, desperate measure.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Now, the Pickle was helpless as a fighting ship
0:23:35 > 0:23:41but as a sailing vessel, she was lighter and faster.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46But with the Nautilus out of sight, what the Pickle needed now was a lucky break
0:23:46 > 0:23:50and as the wind changed direction, she got one.
0:23:50 > 0:23:57This schooner is now doing what she does best actually, she was able to sail on her course
0:23:57 > 0:24:02with that wind direction, a square rigger wouldn't have been able to do that.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06She'd have been driven into the Atlantic, and it would have to have had to sail further
0:24:06 > 0:24:08if indeed she could get there at all.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16Finally, the Pickle's great advantage, her more modern rig, was coming into play.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Now, she picked up her skirts and flew for home.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Yes, standing here, looking at that bow, feeling her
0:24:24 > 0:24:28fill with wind and lean to it and put a shoulder to the job,
0:24:28 > 0:24:33you understand how a brave little boat like this could have beaten Sykes
0:24:33 > 0:24:37and got home to England with the news. Lapenotiere - he knew what he was about.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46But just as it seemed Pickle was about to win the day, disaster struck again.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Within sight of the south coast of England, the wind suddenly died.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00The Pickle had been aiming for Plymouth
0:25:00 > 0:25:05but now, only miles from Falmouth, Lapenotiere had a choice,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07get off here and face a longer journey by land
0:25:07 > 0:25:13or try and coax another 40 miles from the Pickle in uncertain winds.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18And without knowing where the Nautilus was, he had only his instincts to go on.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Lapenotiere made his call.
0:25:23 > 0:25:29Leaving the Pickle behind, he ordered his crew to row him the final miles to shore.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35By getting himself ashore, Lapenotiere showed himself to be a clever man.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38He kissed goodbye to the tides
0:25:38 > 0:25:43but you know, getting himself up to London was not going to be a walk in the park.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48Lapenotiere had no way of knowing where Sykes was.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52All he could do now was make sure he got to London first
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and delivered the news that King and country were waiting for.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Lapenotiere had taken his big gamble going to Falmouth, not Plymouth.
0:26:05 > 0:26:11Now he needed rapid transport to London so he went to the local car rental man who didn't have a Mondeo
0:26:11 > 0:26:16but he did have a post-chaise, the fastest on four wheels.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19He hired it and set out for town, post-haste.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24HORSE WHINNIES
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Now it was hell-for-leather all the way to London,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34a long, long journey, 270 miles.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41He changed horses 21 times and it cost him dear.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47When he added up his expenses at the end of the trip,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50he was horrified to learn he had spent £46 odd,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53half a year's salary for a lieutenant,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and there was no way he could be sure of ever getting it back.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06Falmouth to London is a long haul today in a car.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08In this,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10we're moving at boat speeds here,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12right now we're going down a steep hill
0:27:12 > 0:27:14and I could get out and walk faster.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18It must have caused Lapenotiere to eat his liver.
0:27:19 > 0:27:25But after 37 hours on the road, Lapenotiere had reached London.
0:27:25 > 0:27:32After a race of over 1,000 miles, he discovered later he had beaten Sykes by just half-an-hour.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36The Pickle had done it.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40And now it fell to Lapenotiere to claim his reward
0:27:40 > 0:27:43and announce the tidings that the nation had been waiting for.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48With studied economy, he drew breath and told the First Sea Lord,
0:27:48 > 0:27:54"Sir, we've gained a great victory but we've lost Lord Nelson."
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Today, Trafalgar and Nelson are names known to everyone
0:28:05 > 0:28:11but for most, Lapenotiere and has little ship, the Pickle, are all but forgotten.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19To me, the Pickle sums up everything that's best about the sea,
0:28:19 > 0:28:25a boat packed with new ideas, sailed to perfection by men with timeless qualities
0:28:25 > 0:28:29and the news she carried changed British history for ever.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:54 > 0:28:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk