Year: 2001 Language: english Author: G. Bruce Knecht Genre: Textbook Publisher: Warner Books, Inc Edition: First ISBN: 0-446-61185-9 Format: PDF & EPUB Quality: Scanned pages Pages count: 388 Description: On December 26, 1998, 115 sailboats crossed the starting line of the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The 630-nautical-mile contest is among the most difficult races in the world, a test of strength and endurance like few others. But no one could have foreseen the tragedy that would befall the competitors, who sailed into a massive storm that tore apart the fleet with hurricane-force winds and eighty-foot waves. What began as a race for glory rapidly became a fight for survival. In this gripping insider’s account, award-winning writer G. Bruce Knecht focuses on three yachts and their crews, weaving together an extraordinary story with vivid detail, outsized personalities, and high drama. Most importantly, he offers a glimpse into how people with very different backgrounds responded to something bigger than they were—and how it changed them forever. Hailed as “harrowing” by the New York Times, “pulse-pounding” by People magazine, and “the Perfect Storm of blue-water sailboat racing” by Walter Cronkite, The Proving Ground is a true-to-life adventure tale as thrilling as any work of fiction. Additional info: "the Hobart" begins in Sydney the day after Christmas and ends approximately two days and 630 nautical miles later in southern Tasmania. When 115 boats sailed into a cyclone in 1998, one of the worst disasters in "blue water" racing history occurred: 55 sailors had to be rescued via ship or helicopter, 5 boats sank, and 6 people died. Knecht's is the third book about the 1998 race, following Fatal Storm (McGraw, 1999), journalist Rob Mundle's account published just four months after the race, and Martin Dugard's Knockdown (Pocket, 1999). It benefits from the time that the author took to repeatedly interview survivors, examine police documents, and await the findings of the inquest. He offers up hair-raising experiences of sailors and rescuers similar to the earlier titles, but because he focuses on just three boats, the accounts seem more substantive and intimate. He also addresses the issue of responsibility more fully, relating how the Australian weather bureau, the race organizers, modern boat construction, and even some of the skippers contributed to the fatalities. Finally, he looks at the tragedy's effect on both the participants and on yacht racing in general. Readers of this and other disaster books, however, might conclude that the truly "proven" heroes are those who risk life and limb to save others engaged in personal quests for challenge or glory.
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The Proving Ground
Year: 2001
Language: english
Author: G. Bruce Knecht
Genre: Textbook
Publisher: Warner Books, Inc
Edition: First
ISBN: 0-446-61185-9
Format: PDF & EPUB
Quality: Scanned pages
Pages count: 388
Description: On December 26, 1998, 115 sailboats crossed the starting line of the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The 630-nautical-mile contest is among the most difficult races in the world, a test of strength and endurance like few others. But no one could have foreseen the tragedy that would befall the competitors, who sailed into a massive storm that tore apart the fleet with hurricane-force winds and eighty-foot waves. What began as a race for glory rapidly became a fight for survival. In this gripping insider’s account, award-winning writer G. Bruce Knecht focuses on three yachts and their crews, weaving together an extraordinary story with vivid detail, outsized personalities, and high drama. Most importantly, he offers a glimpse into how people with very different backgrounds responded to something bigger than they were—and how it changed them forever. Hailed as “harrowing” by the New York Times, “pulse-pounding” by People magazine, and “the Perfect Storm of blue-water sailboat racing” by Walter Cronkite, The Proving Ground is a true-to-life adventure tale as thrilling as any work of fiction.
Additional info: "the Hobart" begins in Sydney the day after Christmas and ends approximately two days and 630 nautical miles later in southern Tasmania. When 115 boats sailed into a cyclone in 1998, one of the worst disasters in "blue water" racing history occurred: 55 sailors had to be rescued via ship or helicopter, 5 boats sank, and 6 people died. Knecht's is the third book about the 1998 race, following Fatal Storm (McGraw, 1999), journalist Rob Mundle's account published just four months after the race, and Martin Dugard's Knockdown (Pocket, 1999). It benefits from the time that the author took to repeatedly interview survivors, examine police documents, and await the findings of the inquest. He offers up hair-raising experiences of sailors and rescuers similar to the earlier titles, but because he focuses on just three boats, the accounts seem more substantive and intimate. He also addresses the issue of responsibility more fully, relating how the Australian weather bureau, the race organizers, modern boat construction, and even some of the skippers contributed to the fatalities. Finally, he looks at the tragedy's effect on both the participants and on yacht racing in general. Readers of this and other disaster books, however, might conclude that the truly "proven" heroes are those who risk life and limb to save others engaged in personal quests for challenge or glory.
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