Sunday, March 25, 2012

Racing Madness

The biggest body of water I've every raced on was the Chesapeake.  Racing around the British Isles or around the world solo is another mater.   Sport quickly becomes a fight for life.  Two stories of that here.  


1.  Fastnet Force 10, John Rousmaniere (1979),  Force 10 is a mariner's scale to say a violent storm at sea.  In 1979, a force 10 storm ripped though a storm in the Irish Sea during the Fastnet race.  Forty foot waves damaged over half of the 300 boats.  Rousmaniere who was in the race, assembled the stories into a single riveting narrative.  Bought used at the State Department book store with a book plate from "Jane Murdoch."




2.  Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters, Derek Lundy (1999).  The world's most dangerous race is the Globe Vendee, a single-handed sailor around the world with no stops.  During the 1996 race, sailor Derek Lundy, a contender for the lead, turned his boat around and sailed hundreds of miles to rescue a fellow racer whose boat was broken and sinking.  Bought new.

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