In 1968, the Sunday Times organised the Golden Globe race - an incredible test of endurance never before attempted - a round the world yacht race that must be completed single-handed and non-stop, going into port for repairs or supplies would mean disqualification.This remarkable challenge inspired the daring to enter - with or without sailing experience. A Race Too Far is the story of how the race unfolded, and how it became a tragedy for many involved.Of...

In 1968, the Sunday Times organised the Golden Globe race - an incredible test of endurance never before attempted - a round the world yacht race that must be completed single-handed and non-stop, going into port for repairs or supplies would mean disqualification.This remarkable challenge inspired the daring to enter - with or without sailing experience. A Race Too Far is the story of how the race unfolded, and how it became a tragedy for many involved.Of...

On Friday 14 June 1968 Suhaili, a tiny ketch, slipped almostunnoticed out of Falmouth harbour steered by the solitary figure at herhelm, Robin Knox-Johnston. Ten and a half months later Suhaili,paintwork peeling and rust streaked, her once white sails weathered andbrown, her self-steering gone, her tiller arm jury rigged to the rudderhead, came romping joyously back to Falmouth to a fantastic receptionfor Robin, who had become the...

"An extraordinary story of bravery and insanity on the high seas. . . . One of the most gripping sea stories I have ever read." — Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect StormIn the tradition of Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm, comes a breathtaking piece of maritime history and an oceanic adventure about an obsessive desire to test the limits of human endurance.In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring ...

The Reluctant Mariner tells of an Australian couple's five-year circumnavigation of the world in a 12.2-metre long, steel-hulled ketch called Onawa. The author, Joanna Hackett, was once a self-proclaimed landlubber who had never even considered sailing off over the horizon in search of adventure but, having married a man keen to do just that, was willing to "give it a go". Her candid account, penned with dry wit and accessible style, made The Reluctant Mariner a sell-out when it first hit ...

'A masterpiece.' New Yorker'Wholly riveting, brilliantly researched.' Evening Standard'A meticulous investigation into the seeds of disaster... fascinating, uncomfortable reading.' Sunday TimesIn 1968, Donald Crowhurst was trying to market a nautical navigation device he had developed, and saw the Sunday Times Golden Globe round the world sailing race as the perfect opportunity to showcase...

Les Powles only had 8 hours of sailing experience when he decided to sail solo around the world. Many novices would be content to just dream of such an adventure, and maybe get as far as a solo Channel crossing a couple of years down the line. Not so Les Powles, one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary and eccentric sailors.Les was in his 50s when he built himself a yacht with little prior knowledge of boatbuilding. Remarkably he made it across the Atlantic, though his nav...

Aged just 23, and already set on a life of adventure, Roger Taylor signed up as an able seaman on the square-rigger Endeavour II, bound from Australia to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. It was the realisation of a boyhood dream. The dream was cruelly shattered when the ship was caught in a fierce tropical storm off the coast of northern New Zealand. For several days, the young crew fought in horrific conditions to keep the ship off the hostile cliffs to leeward. Their efforts were in ...

Learn what it takes to cross an ocean from a veteran sailorIn Sailing a Serious Ocean, author John Kretschmer uses his experiences and stories to show you what you will need to across an ocean or go around the world, in fair weather or foul. His true accounts of storms and other challenges at sea makes exciting reading and shows not only how sailboats should be handled when the chips are down, but how you should handle yourself. Learning how these boats re...

This timeless classic is an exciting true story of survival against all odds.‘There was a sudden sickening sense of disaster. I felt a great lurch and heel, and a thunder of sound filled my ears. I was conscious, in a terrified moment, of being driven into the front and side of my bunk with tremendous force. At the same time there was a tearing cracking sound, as if Tzu Hang was being ripped apart, and water burst solidly, raging into the cabin. There was darkness, black boards, an...

From time immemorial, few narrative genres have had the power to so stir the emotions or captivate the imagination as the true account of a lone adventurer's triumph over the titanic forces of nature. Among the handful of such tales to emerge in the twentieth century, one of the most enduring surely must be Sir Francis Chichester's account of his solitary, nine-month journey around the world in his 53-foot ketch Gipsy Moth IV. The story of how the sixty-five-year-old navigator sin...

In January 1969, aboard his home-built wooden boat Suhaili, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person every to sail solo, non-stop around the world. 25 years later, Sir Robin again completed a record-breaking circumnavigation, co-skippering Enza with Kiwi yachting legend Sir Peter Blake. His place in sailing's pantheon of greats was assured.Then, after the tragic death of his wife Sue, Sir Robin decided he would try again. in October 2006, at the age of 67 -...