Godforsaken Sea: The True Story of a Race Through the World's Most Dangerous Waters - Softcover

The race is the Vendee Globe, and The Godforsaken Sea is the story of the 1996-1997 competition. Fourteen men and two women began the race in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. Six officially finished; three were wrecked and rescued; one sailor performed emergency surgery on himself mid-race; one perished. This is high adventure of the most gripping, perilous sort, demanding a tightly controlled, suspenseful narrative: "Visualize a never-ending series of five- or six-story buildings, with sloping sides of various angles ... moving towards [the sailors] at forty miles an hour. Some of the time, the top one or two stories will collapse on top of them." But Lundy delivers more, weaving a superior fabric of psychology and physics, action and reflection. Even the utter novice will emerge understanding the architecture of racing vessels, the evolution of storms, the physical and psychological courage required to survive five-and-a half months battling the ocean alone.

Sailing aficionados may already believe that the Vendee Globe is the pinnacle of extreme sports. With Lundy's help, armchair adventurers can dig in and hang on for the ride. --Svenja Soldovieri

Through the eyes of the fourteen men and two women who embark on the race, Lundy captures both the savagery of the elements and the courage of the sailors who push themselves to the outer limits of human endeavor, even if it means never returning home. A graceful evocation of the sailing life, an eloquent meditation on danger, and an appreciation of those danger-seekers who embody the most heroic and eccentric aspects of the human condition, Godforsaken Sea is a modern classic of adventure writing, as gripping as it is insightful.