Godforsaken Sea

May 3, 1999
On November 3, 1996, the 16 solo sailboat racers of the third Vende Globe contest left the little French port of Les Sables dOlonne for a four-month round trip whose most trying feature would be a circumnavigation of Antarctica. Lundy, an experienced amateur sailor, followed the race on its Web site, on which the race organizers provided regular updates and on which some of the sailors posted bulletins. From the beginning, its obvious that the competitors are a bit more committed than your average weekend sailor. They hire sleep specialists to determine their personal best-sleep periods so theyll know when to put their boats on automatic pilot for a quick catnap. One sailor, Pete Goss, took a scalpel to his inflamed elbow, following a doctors faxed instructions while his boat heeled and all his instruments slid off their tray (so now Im frothing at the mouth, and it was quite funny, really). As Lundy describes these sailors encounters with the raging southern ocean and waves like a never-ending series of five- or six-story buildings... moving towards at about forty miles an hour, readers will get caught up in the race and in the fates of the 16 racers. Despite all the excitement, the book has a buffered feel. Quite simply, Lundy wasnt there. Its a measure of his skill, then, that he manages to make the action as palpable as he does, lacing his report of the race with a little maritime history, ocean science and allusions to the likes of Conrad and Joyce. This literate adventure book was a bestseller in Canada. $50,000 ad/promo; BOMC selection; author tour.

May 1, 1999
This is both an excellent and a timely book: excellent in that the author has given us a vivid account of a horrendous single-handed sailboat race, the Globe Vend e, and timely because the rival Around Alone race is currently underway. Lundy has provided detailed descriptions of the unusual boats used and interviewed most of their skippers. The race covered was the 1995 Globe Vend e: from France, contestants head south around Antarctica and then sail back to France over some four solitary months. Included are several heroic rescue efforts (both successful and not) and vivid descriptions of the conditions the contestants encountered. All of this makes for good reading but leaves readers (and sailors like this reviewer) wondering what drives seemingly sane individuals to embark on such near-suicidal efforts. Even better than Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm (LJ 5/15/97).--Robert F. Greenfield, formerly with Baltimore Cty. P.L., MD

Copyright 1999 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 1999
The Vendee Globe is the only solo, around-the-world sailing race that is not in legs and that disqualifies entrants from either receiving assistance or going ashore. The section of the race circling Antarctica, however, is what makes the Vendee the world's most difficult sailing competition. In the ship-swallowing southern seas, Vendee skippers confront a six-to eight-week near-constant onslaught of hurricane conditions. Skippers go days without sleep, enduring brain-scattering storm racket, frequent capsizing, and a steady stream of concussive 50-foot waves. Amazingly, Vendee boats are designed to surf these colossal walls of water, as well as to right themselves when their masts dip over and touch the ocean's surface. Centering on the tragic 1996^-97 Vendee Globe, Lundy goes deep inside every aspect of this elite, French-dominated sport. Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" (1997) showed the potential demand for well-written adventure-sport accounts; expect this title to generate similar interest. ((Reviewed April 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)