Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters - Tapa dura

Writing about a building storm, the physics of great waves, the finer points of boat-handling in hurricane force wind, he is always simple, eloquent and sometimes arrestingly vivid. You could follow him and share on the elation and terror, even if you'd never been aboard a sailboat in your life' JONATHAN RABAN The Vendee Globe-a 27, 000 mile single-handed yacht race through the world's most treacherous seas, a journey that takes the competitors to one of the most isolated places on earth. In the four months that it takes to sail the route the racers pit themselves against the sea and cope with all it offers-icebergs, hurricane-force winds, waves the height of six-storey buildings, deafening noise as their boats hit the giant waves-and all this whilst suffering from severe sleep deprivation and sometimes desperate loneliness. On 3 November 1996 sixteen sailors, Tony Bullimore and Pete Goss among them, set out. Only six crossed the finishing line, six others either withdrew or were disqualified for seeking outside help, three were plucked from sinking boats while the world watched and one disappeared without trace.

Derek Lundy is an experienced amateur sailor. A lawyer by training and a writer by profession, he is the author of Scott Turow: Meeting the Enemy. He lives in Toronto.