Richey was known as a passionate sailor and regular participant at the Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) organised every four years by the Royal Western Yacht Club of England.
Finishing his last competition in 1996 at the age of 80 he achieved an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest man to cross the Atlantic as a solo sailor.
The war censorship in Britain prohibited the publication of this narrative, but it was published in the magazine of The New York Times in 1941 and from there it moved back to the UK, where in 1942 this story was awarded the first John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for young writers.
[5] These are travel records Richey wrote in 1943 as navigation assistant on the auxiliary cruiser MV Carnarvon Castle on a ride in the South Atlantic.
[10] In 1964 he acquired a small junk rigged boat, a converted Nordic Folkboat named Jester from Herbert "Blondie" Hasler, the co-founder of the OSTAR competition.
On the contrary, he failed on the way (three of his eight Regatta participations) or he reached the destination at Newport, Rhode Island several weeks later than the winning boat, being the last or second last of the starting field.
[14] Richey's friends subsequently collected money in order to provide a replica true to the original, and with this new Jester he took part in the following two races in 1992 and in 1996, finishing again as last participant within the time limit.