Three legendary sailors were brought together by a chance encounter in Bermuda’s waters last week.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Commander Dilip Donde of the Indian Navy, and Neal Petersen have all single-handedly sailed around the globe.

And according to Mr Petersen, it is extremely rare that three such experienced sailors can be found in one place — unless they are competing in a race.

“I don’t know if we are going to get three single-handed sailors of our calibre together in Bermuda again,” the South African said.

Mr Petersen, who visited Bermuda for the first time 21 years ago, had been on the Island for about a month when he recognised Sir Robin’s sailing boat Haven as it arrived in St George’s on Thursday.

Cdr Donde and Sir Robin had been on their way to Province Town in Massachusetts from Grenada in the Caribbean, when they decided to stop by Bermuda to carry out some repairs on the ship. It was their first time visiting the Island and Mr Petersen described their meeting as a “complete chance encounter”.

Mr Petersen and Sir Robin have known each other for twenty years and Cdr Donde and Sir Robin have been friends almost a decade, but Mr Petersen and Cdr Donde had never met.

Sir Robin explained that only about 200 people have sailed around the world alone, whereas about 600 have been to space and about 6,000 have climbed Mount Everest.

This means the three men make up about 1½ per cent of all the round-the-world solo sailors in the history of mankind.

“We are very relaxed in each other’s company,” Sir Robin said, explaining that they are bound by “mutual respect and immediate understanding” because they have endured challenges that most people can’t identify with.

“It’s a wonderful fellowship,” Mr Petersen added.

Sir Robin is an English sailor and the first man to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe non-stop. He set sail from Falmouth in England on June 14, 1968, and completed his voyage on April 22, 1969.

He was knighted in 1995 and in 2006 he became the oldest yachtsman to complete a round-the-world solo voyage in the VELUX 5 Oceans Race.

Cdr Donde was the first Indian sailor to carry out a solo circumnavigation in 2010, covering 21,600 nautical miles in 276 days as part of a Navy project.

He joined the Indian Navy when he was in his early twenties and is now based in Goa, India. He will return there in August to help train a group of women with no sailing experience for a trip around the world.

Mr Petersen, a business executive and adventurer, completed the Around Alone, a 27,000-mile around-the-world sailing race in his 40ft home-built boat in 1999.

Born in Cape Town, he had to overcome racial prejudice during the Apartheid era, a childhood physical disability and poverty in order to even make it to the starting line.

Mr Petersen, who is also a professional motivational speaker, has been on the Island to speak in the community and has toured schools to “talk about the power of a dream” and to teach children to never give up hope.

Sir Robin and Cdr Donde set sail again today. They are headed to Newport, Rhode Island, to participate in the Transatlantic Race 2015.

Mr Petersen will depart the Island on June 18, as part of the Bermuda One-Two Yacht Race, but plans to return to Bermuda soon.