Synopses & Reviews
"The best book ever written about the terrifying business of single-handed sailing....Lundy tells a harrowing tale, as tight and gripping as
The Perfect Storm or
Into Thin Air."
San Francisco Chronicle
A chilling account of the world's most dangerous sailing race, the Vendée Globe, Godforsaken Sea is at once a hair-raising adventure story, a graceful evocation of the sailing life, and a thoughtful meditation on danger and those who seek it.
This is the story of the 1996-1997 Vendée Globe, a solo sailing race that binds its competitors to just a few, cruelly simple rules: around the world from France by way of Antarctica, no help, no stopping, one boat, one sailor. The majority of the race takes place in the Southern Ocean, where icebergs and gale-force winds are a constant threat, and the waves build to almost unimaginable heights. As author Derek Lundy puts it: "try to visualize a never-ending series of five- or six-story buildings moving toward you at about forty miles an hour."
The experiences of the racers reveal the spirit of the men and women who push themselves to the limits of human endeavor even if it means never returning home. You'll meet the gallant Brit who beats miles back through the worst seas to save a fellow racer, the sailing veteran who calmly smokes cigarette after cigarette as his boat capsizes, and the Canadian who, hours before he disappears forever, dispatches this message: "If you drag things out too long here, you're sure to come to grief."
Derek Lundy elevates the story of one race into an appreciation of those thrill-seekers who embody the most heroic and eccentric aspects of the human condition.
Synopsis
In a chilling account of the world's most dangerous sailing race, Lundy elevates the story of the 1996-1997 Vende Globe into an appreciation of those thrill-seekers who embody the most heroic and eccentric aspects of the human condition. 2 maps. Diagram.
Synopsis
Around the world by way of Antarctica, one boat, one sailor, no help, no stopping: these are the cruelly simple rules binding the men and women who undertake the world's most dangerous and demanding sailing race, the Vendee Globe. Godforsaken Sea is the story of the 1996-1997 Vendee Globe, a grueling four-month circumnavigation of the world via the Southern Ocean, where icebergs and hurricane-force winds are a constant threat, and the waves build to monstrous, almost unimaginable heights.
Through the eyes of the fourteen men and two women who embark on the race, Lundy captures both the savagery of the elements and the courage of the sailors who push themselves to the outer limits of human endeavor, even if it means never returning home. A graceful evocation of the sailing life, an eloquent meditation on danger, and an appreciation of those danger-seekers who embody the most heroic and eccentric aspects of the human condition, Godforsaken Sea is a modern classic of adventure writing, as gripping as it is insightful.
About the Author
Derek Lundy is the bestselling author of
Godforsaken Sea: Racing The World's Most Dangerous Waters,
The Way of a Ship: A Square-Rigger Voyage in the Last Days of Sail, and
The Bloody Red Hand: A Journey Through Truth, Myth and Terror in Northern Ireland. He lives and rides on Salt Spring Island, B.C.
From the Hardcover edition.