When I set out Olympic sailing 20 years ago, I never would have dreamt this would happen.

BBC: Olympic heroes head New Year Honours

's ill-fated 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage: a British voyage that set out to establish a sailing route through the Arctic and ended with the untimely, mysterious deaths of its two ship crews.

ENGADGET: University of Victoria's Mano underwater robot to prowl Arctic waters for legendary ships

He gained the decisive break early in the second set when Ljubicic sent a backhand sailing wide.

BBC: Johansson hits form in Halle

He set up the club to give sailing enthusiasts chance to socialise without having to travel to the coast.

BBC: Land-locked yacht club sets sail in Chipping Norton

That year Captain James Cook set off on the Endeavour, sailing to the South Seas to chart the transit of Venus and search for what turned out to be Australia.

FORBES: Bye, Bye, Britannica

The term best boy, a supervisor in a given group of on-set technicians, was also borrowed from sailing crews.

FORBES: Hollywood Hard Hats

Like ancient Polynesians who set off over the horizon in their sailing canoes without a clue where they would land, the first kitesurfers pushed out through the waves without knowing how to sail broadside to the wind.

FORBES: Wing and a Prayer