Description
'One of the best books ever written about sailing'
Time
27,000 miles, three and a half to five months alone at sea, chilling casualty rates, the unrelenting strain of handling 60-foot boats day and night, the absolute certainty of weather and waves that could destroy them.
On 3 November 1996 sixteen sailors set out from the Bay of Biscay to embark on the Vendee Globe - a single-handed yacht race through the world's most treacherous and isolated seas.
Of the sixteen starters only six completed the course, six others withdrew or were disqualified, three were plucked from sinking boats and one disappeared without trace.
This is a book about the sea: how we are dawn to it and how it repels us and about why these men and women risk everything to embark on such a perilous journey.
TWENTIETH ANNIVESARY EDITION, WITH A NEW FOREWORD FROM THE AUTHOR.
an extraordinarily well-told story a humbling, exhausting, necessary book" Paul Watkins, The Times. This is an enthralling account of the 1996/7 Vendee Globe round-the-world yacht race. It is a story of heroism, adventure and tragic loss of life on the high seas - a book that should be bought by all those who enjoyed A PERFECT STORM or INTO THIN AIR.
About the Author
Derek Lundy is the author of six books. He lives on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
Reviews
A gripping and poetic evocation of the terrible and seductive power of the sea * Independent on Sunday *
One of the best books ever written about sailing * Time *
Eloquent... Lundy explores how and why humans feel drawn to the extreme risks and almost inevitable disasters that single-handedly sailing the Southern Ocean entails... A stirring narrative * New York Times *
Contains all the tension of a thriller * Independent *
[An] excellent book -- Matt Dickinson * The Times *
Book Information
ISBN 9780224059718
Author Derek Lundy
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Yellow Jersey Press
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm