A Voyage for Madmen in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 15, 2019 Kay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction, seafaring_tales, favorites

Mankind, In Extremis

I had never known such a thing as single-handed sailing existed until, some years back, I visited a small museum in Newport, RI, devoted to the pursuit. I don't recall anything in the museum about this event, which took place in 1968-69, though no doubt there was at least a mention of it if not quite a substantial display. Long a fan of true-adventure and survival tales, I picked up this book some time back, began it... and then set it aside. Some interior compass steered me Mankind, In Extremis

I had never known such a thing as single-handed sailing existed until, some years back, I visited a small museum in Newport, RI, devoted to the pursuit. I don't recall anything in the museum about this event, which took place in 1968-69, though no doubt there was at least a mention of it if not quite a substantial display. Long a fan of true-adventure and survival tales, I picked up this book some time back, began it... and then set it aside. Some interior compass steered me in another direction. But when I recently picked up the book again, I found that it was precisely what I wanted to read and that it exceeded my expectations. Right book for the right time has long been a personal reading mantra.

I will forgo the details -- and avoid possible spoilers -- in this review. Others do it quite admirably elsewhere, including on this site. From the beginning of the book I decided, and suggest that future readers do likewise, not to look up the results of the race in advance, though it becomes fairly clear in the latter sections of the book who the winner will be, and, just as interestingly, who the villain was. The tale holds more surprises in it than expected, including a few stunners that the reader would not have reason to suspect, not to mention that aforementioned villain. So, in terms of material -- what actually happened -- the book delivers in spades.

But this is only one of the reasons I rated this book so highly. What interested me most, and what led to the most profitable introspection, in fact, was the author's ability to plumb the depths of the nine mens' characters . What motivated them? Kept some of them going on beyond what seemed endurance? Caused others to give up? How did they face challenges, the not least of which was boredom and loneliness?

Nichols has ample material here to plunder, making good use of his sources: the publicity surrounding the race, interviews with other single-handed sailors and their kin, books written by several of its participants, and his own experience at sea, all of which provide clues as to what the men were like and how they felt at various stages of the race. Their motivations and personalities were strikingly different. Nichols eschews moralizing but at the same time lays bare the men's characters, allowing the reader to form her own opinions.

One passage near the beginning I would like to quote to give a sense of the author's style as well an insight from one of the race's originators:

A race was in fact the last thing any of them wanted. These were not yachtsmen or sportsmen. They were hardcase egomaniacs drive by complex desires and vainglory to attempt an extreme, life-threatening endeavor. Each had powerfully visualized what must be done, and was consumed with the need to do it first. They were loners."

One need not know much about sailing, the sea, or boats to read this tale, and while my "seafaring tales" bookshelf now numbers 52, I confess to having never sailed or done much in the way of boating myself, and I still get hopelessly confused about various types of rigging, for example. Nichols doesn't overburden the reader with detail -- only what's needed to understand the difficulties the men faced and important facts concerning boat design, which I found rather fascinating. He has a gift for clear, concise, explanation, aided by a number of useful illustrations concerning the racers' routes and a number of photographs of the ships and racers which nicely flesh out the account.

I don't think I would be giving too much away to end by saying that two men emerge from this unusual contest as heroes; two men who found peace at sea and within themselves. They were dramatically different, and yet in a way the same. One of them goes on to win the race, and the other....

well, read the book and find out. You'll be well rewarded if you do. ...more

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