Something new for me, a piece about a book. Damn, i am not a critic nor Oprah Winfrey with her book club. As that still exist, living without television for yrs makes live much better... But I know that many people are looking for books in English about the MiniTransat.
There is no excuse now anymore, Chris Sayers story is told in a decent, not nauseating way, from lows to highs, I read the whole book in once, it will be a good read for you too.
 For every would-be mini
sailor, though there are notmany tips how to sail, you will get a picture what is involved, and certainly worth the buck. It actually describes a tack and gybe with a canting keel. Maybe a first in English literature :) And note how long it takes to build one. So, get that book, you will not regret it. Maybe Chris will, as you wil maybe learn more about him then he wants, the price for glory...
A short text from it, to get the style: Chris had left Sydney under his slightly shorter rig on 14 May. The first four days were 'not pleasant'. The wind was always forward of the beam and lightning was often in dispute with the sky. At night the shrouds glowed with static electricity.
At 11pm on the 19 May, Chris was asleep as Up The Blue sailed under autopilot towards New Zealand. Suddenly, he jolted awake as thousands of Kevlar fibres smashed on impact - with what? The bow dived and spun into the wind. Everything below decks slammed forward. Chris slid from beneath the cockpit and struggled up through the hatch.
He expected fallen rigging, as he had seen three weeks before. The rig was still upright.
He spun the torch through the night, looking for damage. There were terrible sounds, as though the boat was tearing itself to bits and he checked again the cockpit control lines to the keel. They seemed okay. He looked over the side; the keel was visible, as expected, but he took a second look. It was wrong, the angle was wrong. And those terrible sounds |
