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Dewey Decimal Number: 797 EAN: 9780071361408 Edition: 1 ISBN: 0071361405 Label: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 272 Publication Date: May 17, 2000 Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press Studio: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: In the world of competitive off-shore sailing, Christmas Day is thought of as Boxing Day Eve--that is, the eve of the annual Sydney-to-Hobart Race. One of the world's three major offshore races (along with the Fastnet out of England and America's Newport Race to Bermuda), the 630-mile course from Sydney, Australia, to Hobart, Tasmania, is a test of skills, guts, and endurance in notoriously unpredictable, fickle waters--and in any weather. On Boxing Day, 1998, the 115 boats jockeying at the starting line off Sydney's Nielsen Park Beach had been warned that low-pressure weather systems were conspiring to guarantee a wild and chancy race. Yet few sailors anticipated the ferocity of the storm that descended around two o'clock the next morning, whipping up gale-force winds and waves tall enough to send 25-ton yachts "spearing into midair," then "plunging down into the trough ... like repeatedly launching a truck off a 30-foot ramp and awaiting the crash." The race quickly devolved into the worst sailing disaster in recent memory. Seven crews abandoned their boats. Over 50 sailors were rescued under near-impossible circumstances. Seven died, and five boats sank. Journalist Rob Mundle follows the dramatic struggles in Fatal Storm, skillfully re-creating from firsthand accounts the stories of bravery, luck, and folly that left a handful of sailors convinced they'd never go near the Hobart again. Yet as one veteran yachtsman lived to point out, "It's something you just have to do.... You can't be under the illusion at any time that it is safe." --Svenja Soldovieri Product Description: "Harrowing shoreside reading."Booklist "Should be required reading for all ocean sailors."Library Journal The first book to recount the disastrous events of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, Fatal Storm is sure to be a popular paperback selection. Rob Mundle takes readers through every white-knuckling hour of the gale that descended in the predawn hours of December 27, stretching over 900 miles from Australia to New Zealand, bringing with it hurricane strength winds and five-story waves. In all, 57 sailors were rescued, plucked from the decks of broken boats or from the sea itself under impossible conditions. Six sailors died. A Sydney-Hobart Race veteran himself, Rob Mundle had total and unequaled access to the people behind the story. The result is a tale of extreme adventure, extraordinary will, and the overwhelming emotional tales of survivors, rescuers, and the bereaved. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A definite read for all that love the seaI picked up with book without knowing the details of the race or even that there was such a race between Sydney and Hobart. But within pages I could not put it down. The book is a must for any sailer, kayaker or power boater. It tells the tales of the spirit of sport combined with an under estimation of what mother nature can produce. Rating:  - The Imperfect StormThe Southern Ocean---that landless sweep of sea that girds the lower third of our planet and isolates Antarctica---is notorious for its evil weather. Huge rollers, unchecked by any landmass, roil around the circumference of the Earth, making this area one of the most daunting, hazardous and challenging for any mariner. Once yearly on Boxing Day, the 630-mile Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race crosses a small portion of the Southern Ocean. One of the three great sport sailing events (along ... Read More Rating:  - Worth a readThis is such a riveting story that it would be hard to write a bad book about it. Mundle is a fine writer, and the book is easy to read and a real page turner. As a story teller though, he could use some improvement. For example, one of the yachts is capsized by a giant wave and a man thrown overboard. What happens to him? Will he drown in the stormy waters of Bass Straight? Or is he rescued? We turn the page to find... a quote from the man in question describing what was going through his ... Read More Rating: - Inspiring and frightningRob Mundle is journalist and it shows. But behind the bonhomie and parochialism of the yachting scene insider there's an immediacy to this narrative, a rawness to the action and a fire in these heroics that combine to make Fatal Storm an inspiring read. There's something wild about this story, something that makes it different to Fastnet Force 10. There are moments in Fatal Storm when the sailors reading it will be afraid. Rating: - Great Read for a long airline flightI finished this book on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles...with one disaster after another occurring in this massive storm, the writer keeps the reader actively turning pages throughout the book. You would not believe the bravery of everyone involved, from the actual racing teams to the rescue teams, not one person was left unphased by this experience. I am not an active sailor now, but with some experience in racing with a crew on sailboats, I found the account of this true story gripping. ... Read More |
