A Race Too Far - new story of the 1968 solo race

7:32 AM Sun 17 Jan 2010 GMT

'A Race Too Far' .

In 1968, when Britain's Sunday Times put out a challenge to the world's would-be adventurers to 'sail round the world, alone and without stopping' it was an almost unimaginable feat, and spawned a collection of amazing stories which, until now, had been captured best in the famed book 'A Voyage for Madmen' - now there's a new book...

Just over 40 years later, author Chris Eakin has recreated the epic Golden Globe race, and talked in depth to the participants who are still surviving, and to the families of those that haven't.

A couple of the stories have gone into sailing legend, like that of Bernard Moitissier, who was winning the race but found he couldn't face the character-corrupting publicity that he knew would follow, and, instead of turning left up the Atlantic, sailed on to the South Pacific where he ended his life.

Then there was the tragic Donald Crowhurst who, having announced his participation, was self-pressured into competing, yet never left the Atlantic and falsified his positions until, finally losing sanity, was lost off the boat, found floating later with both a real, and a false log on board.

Finally the story of Robin Knox-Johnston, the winner and only one to finish, has proved the superiority of his level-headedness and top seamanship with his recent completion, 38 years later, of another solo non-top circumnavigation, coming fourth in the VELUX 5 Oceans Race, among a bunch of much younger sailors.

Now, with a crop of teenagers taking the headlines in their quests to become the youngest circumnavigators, the book will evoke the wonder of the adventure itself, what challenges it provoked then, without communications, GPS, AIS, EPIRBs or international rescue systems.

To obtain the book, check with your local Boat Book store, or, to purchase from Amazon, click here

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A Race Too Far - new story of the 1968 solo race

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