Isle of Man home to the world’s most dangerous motorcycle race | 60 Minutes

If you asked most Americans to point out the Isle of Man on a globe, it might take them a while. The 30 mile-long island sits in the middle of the Irish Sea, with England to the east and Ireland to the west. It once was the seat of a Viking kingdom; today Britain’s King Charles is head of state or Lord of Man.

People born there are known as “Manx,” and the isle has its own unique language, and a tailless cat, also called Manx. A few hundred years ago it was known as a haven for smugglers. The buccaneers are gone…bankers have now turned the isle into a tax haven. But what drew us to the Isle of Man was not the beauty or the banking, but a hair-raising annual event that at first glance seems totally out of place on this tiny jewel of an island. With emerald fields and rugged coastlines dotted with ruins of medieval castles, the pace of life on the Isle of Man is slow, even sleepy… for 50 weeks of the year.

But for two weeks starting at the end of May, it becomes one of the loudest… fastest… most dangerous places in sport. Peter Hickman: It’s like nothing else. No matter what you’ve done in your life, Until you see a bike do what we’re doing here, nothing compares, at all.

British motorcycle racer Peter Hickman is one of the best in the world, and a 13 time winner of a race known as the Isle of Man TT, short for both tourist trophy and time trial. Not long before we met Hickman, we watched him fly over the first jump on the course at a place known as Ago’s Leap. British motorcycle racer Peter Hickman is one of the best in the world. 60 Minutes Bill Whitaker: We saw you go by Ago’s Leap today. And truly– it was a blur. (laughs) It was just that, like– a speeding bullet. How f– how fast do you think you were going when you went by there?

Peter Hickman: Ago’s Leap’s around 185 to 195-mile-an-hour, somewhere around there. It’s top gear. Besides the blinding speeds, what truly makes the Isle of Man TT unique is that it is run on public roads that are open to normal traffic until just 30 minutes before racing begins, on a 37-mile course that covers much of the island, running through villages and pastures, with riders taking more than 200 turns just inches from rock walls and buildings…and residents.

Peter Hickman: You literally race through a village. And it just feels like you shouldn’t be doing it, but we’re allowed. Bill Whitaker: (laughs) On the Isle of Man?

Peter Hickman: On (laughs) the Isle of Man.

There’s more to say about the TT – much more – but first, what is it about this tranquil isle that produces such a wild and improbable race? Catriona Mackie: The people on the island like to do things their own way. Catriona Mackie moved here from Scotland 15 years ago, and now teaches university students the history of the Isle of Man. She told us over the centuries, the blood and cultures of English, Irish and Viking clashed and mixed here to create the unique Manx identity.

Catriona Mackie: The Manx see themselves as, you know, we’re not English, we’re not Irish, we are Manx. Bill Whitaker: From what you’re telling me, the Isle of Man seems to always be finding its own path. That streak seems to define it.

Catriona Mackie: Yeah. It still has that streak of independence. And a lot of it does come from its Norse heritage.

The Norse – Vikings – sailed south from Scandinavia more than a thousand years ago in search of places to conquer. The Isle of Man is also home to sheep and the ruins of medieval castles. 60 Minutes Catriona Mackie: In 1079, Norse Gaelic ruler called Godred Crovan invaded the Isle of Man for the third time. Third time lucky for him.

Bill Whitaker: This was the seat of the Norse kingdom for a while?

Catriona Mackie: For a while. Yeah, that’s right. Contrary to their reputation, the Vikings didn’t just plunder and move on. On the Isle of Man, they established a sort of parliament – called the Tynwald – that still makes the laws here.

Catriona Mackie: It is the longest continuous running parliament in the world. And it’s an important part of the Manx identity.

Another important aspect of identity is the Manx language, which natives have been speaking – and singing – for nearly fifteen hundred years. Ruth Keggin Gell works at a cultural organization dedicated to preserving and popularizing the Manx language. (Ruth sings in Manx) Bill Whitaker: Oh my God. That was beautiful.

Ruth Keggin Gell: Thank you. Bill Whitaker: Why does it matter to to save the language?

Ruth Keggin Gell: My ancestors spoke Manx. So for me, it’s– it’s a nice way of feeling like I’m connected. I think if we were to lose Manx, we’d be so much the poorer for it.

Manx nearly was lost. By the 1950s, after more and more English speakers visited or settled on the isle, there were fewer than 200 Manx speakers left when a concerted effort began to revive the language.

Bill Whitaker: The rebirth of the language has been described as sort of like a phoenix-like story. Ruth Keggin Gell: Yeah. Definitely–Bill Whitaker: Is that true?Ruth Keggin Gell: Yeah. It’s a strong, it’s a resilient language. And I think there’s more and more pride all the time with people embracing Manx, and seeing it as a really, really good thing. But it is just like that, the– the phoenix rising out of the ashes. It didn’t die. It got perilously close. Today, Ruth Keggin Gell teaches adult Manx classes at a local pub, while just a few hundred yards down the road, 4 and 5-year-olds are learning to count in a Manx-language immersion school.

Ruth Keggin Gell: It’s really exciting seeing people going from having, you know, one or two words in their very first lesson, you know, you’re starting to introduce yourself. Mish Ruth. You know, quoi uss? Who are you? And you’d say: Mish Bill back. Bill Whitaker: Mish Bill.Ruth Keggin Gell: Mish Bill. Yeah.Bill Whitaker: All right.Ruth Keggin Gell: Yindyssagh. Well done. That’s good.

Manx is spoken when the Tynwald – the Isle of Man’s parliament – meets in ceremonial session. For centuries, the Tynwald has charted the isle’s unique path. It was the first legislature in the world to grant women the vote. It especially asserts Manx independence in matters of taxation. Catriona Mackie: England in the mid-17th century had raised its customs’ duties. The Isle of Man didn’t. So you have tobacco and tea and brandy and rum coming from Europe and elsewhere into the Isle of Man, that were then taken from the island in small boats and smuggled into England or Scotland.

Bill Whitaker: The smuggling was known as– running. Catriona Mackie: The running trade– or the trade, yeah. Bill Whitaker: The trade.Catriona Mackie: Absolutely. Yeah.Bill Whitaker: And it was very lucrative.Catriona Mackie: Very, very lucrative. Yeah. It was at that point that the British government decided, “Okay, we really need to do–” Bill Whitaker: Enough.Catriona Mackie: –something about this. Enough is enough.” Yeah.

The British effectively took control of the Isle of Man… and to this day the British monarch is head of state and has the right to veto any Manx law.

In practice, that power is almost never used, and the Isle of Man fiercely guards its independence. Catriona Mackie: You know, we have our own tax laws. And the island is very, very proud of that.

Bill Whitaker: In a way, what was going on in the 17th and 18th century – “the trade” was – this place was kind of a tax haven. Catriona Mackie: You– Bill Whitaker: Back then.Catriona Mackie: In– in some respects, I guess you could call it that.Bill Whitaker: And it is again today.Catriona Mackie: Is again today. Yeah. Most companies don’t pay any corporation tax at all.Bill Whitaker: Zero.Catriona Mackie: Zero. Their level income tax is much lower than it is elsewhere. So we have a top rate of income tax of 20%. We have a lot of people living on the island who are very, very wealthy who pay relatively little tax on the…

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