Synopses & Reviews
THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO TOOK THE SAILING WORLD BY STORM
"A passionate account that is far more than just another book about racing."--The (London) Times
On February 11, 2001, Ellen MacArthur completed the Vendee Globe singlehanded nonstop sailboat race around the planet, perhaps the most grueling challenge in the world of sports, and docked amid the 250,000 well-wishers who had braved a winter night to welcome her back to France. Alone and unsupported, she had spent more than three months at sea and had beaten everything the race could throw at her--storms, icy seas, exhaustion, rigging failures, and, when she was fighting for first place, a catastrophic collision with a submerged shipping container that could have cost her not just the lead but her life. But Ellen had always known that the dream she was chasing would demand her last ounce of fortitude. To give any less would be to let down herself and everyone who believed in her.
At twenty-four she became the youngest person ever to complete the race and the fastest woman--and second fastest sailor--to circumnavigate the globe alone. The magnitude of her achievement was almost beyond comprehension, but it was the character that emerged from behind the headlines that made the more lasting impression. Modestly unassuming yet possessed of an indomitable will, Ellen made people feel they could do anything.
Taking On the World is Ellen's story--how, from her childhood in landlocked Derbyshire, England, she made it to the start of the Vendee Globe. Passionate and wise in its portrayals of love, friendship, and moments of despair, it is a story of longing and adventure, and of the incredible race that catapulted Ellen onto the front pages and into the limelight of international sailing. Dramatic and moving, Taking On the World will inspire and enthrall all who read it.
"An exuberant, headlong, exhausting ride. . . . In describing the terrifying exhilaration of surfing storm waves in the Southern Ocean, the absolute rock-bottom fatigue of single-handing a 60-foot boat for months at a time, the intricacies of navigation and weather routing, the frustrations of raising sponsorship money, or the highs and lows of her own emotions and motivations, MacArthur is always eloquent, passionate--and unfailingly honest. This is more than a book about sailboat racing; it's also about a dream ferociously pursued and the price paid for realizing it. Taking On the World is impossible to put down."--Derek Lundy, author, Godforsaken Sea and The Way of a Ship
"As different from other sailing books as Ellen MacArthur is from other sailors. . . . A story of mythic shape--of a young girl who receives a call to adventure and sets out on a compulsive journey, and finds mentors, tests, dark caves, despair, a supreme ordeal, and triumph. . . . The story of a magnificent obsession, with all the physical difficulty and emotional fallout that came with it. One is left full of admiration, and wondering mightily what this journeying heroine will achieve next."--Peter Nichols, author, A Voyage for Madmen
"Never have so many cheered so heartily for the sailor who finished second."--Herb McCormick, sailing columnist, New York Times
"MacArthur's triumph in sailing 26,000 miles around the world in less than 100 days sets standards in daring, defiance, and yachtsmanship that may not be matched for years to come."--The (London) Times
"You don't need to be a sailor to find it inspiring. It's about endeavour, a riff on Kipling's 'If' that has you wondering why you don't just go out and fulfill your dreams. She writes with fluency and frankness, . . . showing a wisdom that is beyond her years."--The Independent
Synopsis
Ellen MacArthur grew up far from the sea, a nonsailor of modest means, yet she formed the improbable dream of competing at the highest levels of international sailing. At age 18 she single-handed a tiny sailboat around England, and the following year, with little money or sponsorship and no return ticket, she took a ferry to France, bought a 21-foot sailboat, and raced it alone from France to the Caribbean in the Mini-Transat, an achievement that finally earned her sponsorship for the 2001 Vendee Globe.
The Vendee Globe race is sailing's ultimate challenge -- a single-handed, nonstop thrash around the world including 13,000 miles through the dangerous Southern Ocean. At 5 feet 2 inches tall and age 24, MacArthur was the race's smallest and youngest competitor and one of just a handful of women ever to have attempted it. She was a long shot even to finish.
Not only did she become the youngest sailor to complete the race, but McArthur also was the first woman to earn a top-three placing, the fastest woman ever to sail around the world, and the second fastest person ever to do so alone. Taking On the World is the powerful and poignant memoir of a solitary girl who catapulted herself to the pinnacle of international sailing by sheer force of will.
Synopsis
The Incredible Story Of The Fastest Woman To Sail Around The Globe Solo
The Vendee Globe around-the-world sailboat race is sailing's ultimate challenge and the pinnacle of extreme sports--a single handed, nonstop race including 13,000 miles through the planet's most dangerous waters: the Southern Ocean that encircles Antarctica. Small wonder that fewer than half the boats that start a Vendee Globe race can finish it. Of those who don't, the luckier drop out; the rest are claimed by the sea.
At 5 feet 2 inches tall and age 24, Ellen MacArthur was the smallest and youngest competitor in the 2000-01 Vendee Globe and one of just a handful of women ever to have attempted it. In an event dominated by older men of the elite French long-distance racing fraternity, she was a long shot even to finish. Yet on February 11, 2001, she finished second, and became the youngest sailor to complete the race, the first woman to earn a top-three placing, the fastest woman ever to sail around the world, and the second fastest person ever to do so alone.
Her time of 94 days 4 hours 25 minutes shaved 11 days from the previous record. On the day Ellen reached the finish line off the French resort town of Les Sables d'Olonne, an estimated 200,000 people turned out to greet her, and her race website received 4.5 million hits. Her reception, and the media coverage, eclipsed that accorded the winner--the Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux--the day before. Ellen's accomplishment transcended national boundaries.
Table of Contents
Preface
Maps
Taking On the World
Appendix
Vendee Globe 2000 - 2001 Final Positions
Ellen at Sea
Offshore Challenges
Nautical Terms
Acknowledgments
Photographs appear following page 210