Boating Books

A sailing yacht sinks off the coast of Bermuda, with a young woman and three other crewmembers; presumably aboard--and presumably lost. But a year later a postcard appears, with a brief message scrawled across the back: "Don't worry Daddy I'm all right love Sarah."

In Tony Gibbs's engaging sequel to his earlier thriller, "Dead Run," the offbeat crew of the 65-foot ketch Glory is hired to find her. The mystery is unraveled from three points of view: those of Gillian Verdean, the yacht's bold and resourceful owner; her savvy and tenacious captain, Jeremy Barr; and her first mate, Patrick O'Mara, an able and gutsy former soldier of fortune. As each character pursues a separate line of clues, we travel to a Bronx boatyard, a Manhattan magazine office, a Coast Guard station, various night spots in Bermuda and New York and, of course, several sailing vessels.

"Running Fix" is an apt name for this suspenseful and adeptly written novel. When a vessel's position is uncertain, it can be found by intersecting three lines of position--bearings or distances to known objects--on a nautical chart. If an earlier line is updated and combined with one or two current lines, you have a running fix--and so does the novel, each time the three crewmembers meet.

Tony Gibbs has created a clever and vivid mystery. His book is balanced and well-trimmed, and it sustains its authenticity throughout.

Of all the tactics books I have browsed through this one is one of the best. The diagrams are very easy to follow as are the descriptions that accompany them. It is geared towards small boat racing.

A blow by blow walk through the principles and protocols of VHF communication - simple enough for anyone to grasp, but complete.

Safe Harbor: Exploring Maine's Sheltered Bays, Coves, And Anchorages is an eye-catching photographic showcase by William Hubbell highlighting Maine's many islands, inlets, harbors, boats, lighthouses, and much more. Each superbly presented, full-color picture is accompanied by a descriptive and insightful caption. A visual treasure for nautical buffs, Safe Harbor is a superbly presented and highly recommended example of specialized regional photography.

This is an awesome book full of insight and helpful info from a sailor with the experence to write about it. It is presented in a way that makes it enjoyable to read while still full of good info.

Great in-depth information about many types of small sail-and-oar-powered boats. Leather includes plans for multiple examples of each type, gives us his highly knowledgeable opinions on their strengths and shortcomings, and provides fascinating historical details, often with extended quotes from those who built and used these boats.

This is a beautiful book. The words are so wonderfully vivid and descriptive you almost don't need the pictures. The illustrations are gorgeous but I think it's the writing that is this book's greatest appeal. Both the writing and the illustrations get 5 stars.

This book, by Jeremy Evans, Rod Heikell, Tim Jeffery, and Andy O'Grady, starts with an introduction by Ellen MacArthur, who set a record by sailing around the world solo in less than 72 days, in 2005 (in a 75-foot trimaran). Then comes a section on the advent of modern racing (including a description of the famous 1903 America's Cup defender, the Reliance, which was actually 144 feet long, not 44 feet as the typo in this book gives). There are fundamentals of what boats (and their components) are, as well as good advice on what to wear on a boat. And there are fundamentals of how to learn to sail, with excellent color photographs which I think are of great benefit. That includes rigging a boat, launching and landing it, sailing it, packing it, storing and maintaining it, and even topics such as trapezing. We also see some very useful material on ropework and basic knots. And there's a nice section on a simple capsize drill (clearly a good idea, given the way I've seen some folks flounder around in trying to right their dinghies).

Nevertheless, given that this book is over 350 pages, I would like to see a few more fundamentals about racing strategy, tactics, and techniques. Surely there could be a few words about wind patterns and stability and their significance in a race, currents, local knowledge (especially about thermal winds), and maybe kinetics. I'd also want to see a little about the speeds of different boats, and maybe the mention of a metric such as the Portsmouth number.

We then get to a section on sailing a yacht. And the yacht we see in the book is a splendid one: a Jeanneau Sun Fast 37. My guess is that this boat is around 200K, or maybe 3K per week to rent, as even a 25-foot Jeanneau is around 50K. There's a chapter about weather and also one on navigation. I have to admit that I wanted to see a couple of pages on how to use a sextant, but I understand that in the GPS age, this knowledge has become somewhat secondary. We do at least learn roughly where the North Truro lighthouse is (to the best of my knowledge, it is 42 degrees 2 minutes and 21 seconds North, 70 degrees, 3 minutes and 44 seconds West).

The book includes sections on sailing in poor visibility, or in rough weather, man overboard drills, first aid, and other emergencies.

There is a chapter which describes over two dozen sailing destinations, for tourists. I was a little surprised by its inclusion, but I think it is a good idea. And the final chapter is about the world of sailboat racing. That starts with the America's Cup (which Alinghi won this year, 5-2 over New Zealand). And there are descriptions of two dozen other famous races, most of them annual or biannual. That includes, for example, the Middle Sea Race which goes around Sicily counterclockwise, leaving from Marsamxett Harbor in Malta. And it mentions the Olympic classes, including the high performance 49ers.

This beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated book is very informative and is a pleasure to read. I recommend it.

For anyone interested in yachting, yacht racing, or extreme sports... this book captures both the glory (loads of action color photographs reminiscent of Life Magazine) and the details (not just a 'cocktail table' photo book), of the many solo offshore ocean races that now occur.

In addition to an overview of each event, the book chronicles the evolution of yacht design, the pioneering "rock star" sailors, and some of the agonies of the sport. The six major racing events are covered in dedicated chapters and a final section details four other significant events.

Ranging from 21 foot Mini class boats to monster 60 foot trimarans, and from the grueling intensity of Figaro one-design racing to the challenge of Vendee Globe non-stop circumnavigating, the reader will get a sense for the full spectrum of the now highly-evolved sport of solo offshore racing.

Here are the events:
- Europe 1 New Man Star (now known as The Transat, I believe), solo race across the North Atlantic
- Figaro Solitaire, European solo racing in identical 33 foot boats
- Mini Transat, solo racing in 21 foot boats across the Atlantic from Europe to South America
- Route du Rhum, high powered solo racing including multihulls from France to the Caribbean
- Around Alone, solo race around the world with 4 stopovers
- Vendee Globe, going solo around the world non-stop!
- Other races, including Transpac across the Pacific, Newport to Bermuda 1-2, Azores AZAB, Tran Tasman, and CrossPac

I'm 16, and Just recently bought a Cal 21' sailboat. The first thing i did after the purchase, was buy this book. It gives great tips, tricks, and ideas for the simple sailor. From swinging out on the sails to how to help your sick furry friend who is on-board, this book will tell you what to do. It's a excellent resource book, and you can bet that it is one of those 'necessary books' that you will want to leave on your boat for easy reference. I give it *****!!!

Lester Pettigrew Huntsville, AL