A book recommended by VDH
During a discussion with Jean-Luc van Den Heede a few years ago, this sailor had advised me to read Peter Nichols' book to understand this incredible race that was the Golden Globe of 1968. Then broke, I managed to get a used copy (paid the high price!) to devour it quickly. For our greatest joy, Éditions Glénat decided to republish it.
A complete and accurate Bible
Indeed, this book is a real bible about this crazy race. It takes again, competitor after competitor, the motivations, the preparations and the race carried out. This book is not a novel, even if the story is crazy, but a precise and detailed journalistic investigation of a race that we knew nothing about while staying ashore but whose secrets were revealed in the logbooks once back ashore.
Nine boats at the start, only one at the finish
In 1968, the Sunday Time tried to step on the turf of the Observer, which had just organised a solo transatlantic race, the famous OSTAR. How to make bigger and more impressive? Why not organise a non-stop race around the world alone? Knowing that sailors already had this project in mind, Sunday Time did not impose a starting line or a precise date. The ships were simply to launch from the south of England between the 1 er june and October 31.
Nine sailors will start on time, but only one will cross the finish line as the winner. Robin Knox-Johnston on Suhaili was certainly not the favorite. His boat, a small wooden ketch already has many miles behind it and is not designed for sailing in the southern seas. And yet with a lot of perseverance this sailor will be the only one to bring his boat to a victorious port.
Incredible stories
Behind him sea stories are written. There is Bernard Moitessier who will choose not to cross the finish line and continue his"long road". There's Nigel Teyley who's going to make an almost complete round the world trip (the first one on a multihull) but who's going to see his boat disintegrate under his feet a few days before the finish. There are also donald Crowhurst's incredible deception all these heroes, all these dramas, all these adventures and twists make it a race that will mark maritime history.
A flawless translation
The stories described in this book are all the better read as they are translated by the sailor and writer Gérard Janichon. The quality of the sea words, the descriptions of the manoeuvres, the marine technical details are reported with great precision by a writer who knows his subject.
2018, fifty years later
In this 50th anniversary year of the start of this race, between the round the world races organized (race or not) on this occasion, between the release of the film and the book that retrace the adventure of Donald Crowhurst or with the reconstruction of the Joshua by the Meta yard Many will be the events around this event that was the Golden Globe. But only Peter Nichols' Golden Globe gives a global vision of what this race was like. To be read before celebrating this commemoration.
5 copies to win
To give you even more pleasure to read this book, we suggest you win a copy. For that, rendez-vous on Yacht-Club and answer the question. A random draw will determine the winners.
Golden Globe - A lonely epic around the world
- Glénat Publishing
- 400 pages
- 14 x 22.5 cm
- Flexible cover
- 22,00 €
