- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: TAB Books Inc; 2nd edition (1 July 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0071376127
- ISBN-13: 978-0071376129
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,344,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
In the autumn of 1968, Donald Crowhurst set sail from England to participate in the first single-handed nonstop around-the-world sailboat race. Eight months later, his boat was found in the mid-Atlantic, intact but with no one on board. In this gripping reconstruction, journalists Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall tell the story of Crowhurst's ill-fated voyage, up to his apparent decision to take his own life rather than be discovered as the would-be perpetrator of one of the biggest hoaxes in sailing history.
From the Back Cover
"A masterpiece." The New Yorker
In the autumn of 1968, Donald Crowhurst set out from England in an improbable-looking plywood trimaran to compete in the first singlehanded nonstop round-the-world sailboat race. Although his previous sailing experience was limited, his boat unready, and the electronic gadgetry of his own design unfinished and untested, Crowhurst had managed to persuade first an affluent backer, then the contest judges, and, finally, England's media to regard him as a serious contender. Sailing south through the Atlantic, he radioed reports of record-breaking sailing performances. In the South Atlantic he announced that low battery power would require him to maintain radio silence through the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Eleven weeks later he broke his silence to tell the world he had rounded Cape Horn and was sailing north for England, the elapsed-time leader of the race. Then tragedy struck. Eight months after his departure, Crowhurst's Teignmouth Electron was discovered adrift in an eerie mid-Atlantic calm, intact but without her skipper.
In this tour de force of investigative journalism, Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall tell the story of Donald Crowhurst's ill-fated voyage. Working from Crowhurst's recovered logs and diaries, the authors reconstruct the events leading up to his disappearance: his first few weeks at sea and his growing distrust of his boat; his attempts to come to grips with imminent failure; his decision to hide out midocean in the South Atlantic, away from the shipping lanes, faking a round-the-world journey; and his final, desperate escape from discovery as the would-be perpetrator of one of the biggest hoaxes in sailing history.
From in-depth interviews with Crowhurst's family and friends and telling excerpts from his logbooks, Tomalin and Hall develop a tale of tragic self-delusion and public deception, a haunting portrait of a complex, deeply troubled man and his journey into the heart of darkness.
With its first publication in 1970, The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst became an instant classic. Sir Francis Chichester, whose record-setting 1967 circumnavigation inspired the 1968 - 69 round-the-world race, called it "the sea drama of the century." Robin Knox-Johnston, the winner of the race, has called it "one of the great classic sea stories." You won't be able to put it down, and you won't be able to forget it.
A Daring Hoax and the Man It Destroyed
July 1969. After a voyage of 240 days, Donald Crowhurst was less than two weeks from a triumphant return to England, the apparent victor in the first nonstop singlehanded around-the-world sailboat race. All England was preparing for his arrival. But then he disappeared. His boat was found, sailing sedately, undisturbed but he was not on it. From the logbooks he left behind, Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall reconstructed this extraordinary, deeply unsettling tale. . . .
"A virtuoso demonstration of the soul's anatomy." New York Times Book Review
"One of the most moving and disturbing books I have ever read. I don't think I shall ever forget it." Washington Post
"An analysis of a true anti-hero and a record of human aspiration and human failing rare in the annals of maritime lore." San Francisco Chronicle --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
DONALD CROWHURST was born in India, in 1932. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
DONALD CROWHURST was born in India, in 1932. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An important story and a wonderful book,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (Sailmate) (Paperback)
Although Sir Francis Chichester called this, with justice, "the sea drama of the century", it really is not so much a "sea drama" as a human drama that takes place at sea. The subject, Donald Crowhurst, finds himself at sea in more ways than one, and the reader is rivetted as the plot thickens and various developments take him further into danger. His story is masterfully presented by highly gifted authors, who are right when they claim to provide the evidence by which the reader may form his own judgements, which may differ from theirs (as mine does in certain particulars and in my understanding of Crowhurst's affliction). The writing is crisp, lively, and focussed; the authors deserve full credit for taking their subject seriously and giving him the painstaking attention that he--and his paper trail of hope and suffering--clearly warranted. Again, this book is not primarily about the sea or sailing, though there's plenty of detail in that respect, very interesting even for a non-sailor. Crowhurst's story is really about making hard choices, or more particularly, about making a terrible choice at a critical moment, when everything seems to hang in the balance and when "every way you look at it, you lose". It is this crisis, grappled with so earnestly and heartbreakingly by Donald Crowhurst, that makes the book worthwhile, profound, and timeless.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful madness in a mad world,
This review is from: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (Sailor's Classics) (Paperback)
An account from the logbooks of sailor Donald Crowhurst who attempted to sail non-stop, single-handed around the world as part of a boat race. All looked remarkably good for the enthusiastic amateur, when after 240 days at sea he was within two weeks of a triumphant return. But then he disappeared.This was 1969. Before the sophisticated tracking used to check a vessel's progress, and all was taken as fact from the sailors logbooks. This is an account of what happened to a man hopelessly out of his depth, with the weight of expectation hanging heavy over him, and no-one but his unravelling mind for company. Quite simply a breath-taking and engrossing account of human failing and folly with the ability to stir up question marks within the story and one-self.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If we look deeply inside ourselves, what would we see?,
By
This review is from: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst (Sailor's Classics) (Paperback)
I have read this superb book on many occasions and each time it makes me a little uncomfortable. Why? Because in many ways I identify myself in it, and I suspect many others will feel the same way. The need to feel accepted by your peers, to be on the same level as them and fit in. And the feeling that the only way to achieve it is to do something as extraordinary and mad as Donald Crowhurst did.
In this day and age of multi million pound yacht racing with their sleek sexy boats and electronic gizmos, hourly GPS assisted position reports, the sponsors name emblazoned on everything from the hull to the sunglasses worn by the crew, it is easy to forget that until as recently as the late 60`s, small boat circumnavigations were a journey into the unknown, the people who did it (or try to do it) genuine explorers. These people set off knowing that if their boat foundered, the chance of rescue was extremely slim. Donald Crowhurst was one of these people. This book starts with a comprehensive look at Crowhursts early life, and it is here that the first seeds of the later tragedy were sown. When the doomed voyage finally gets underway, the authors Tomalin and Hall expertly unravel what is going on inside Crowhursts head from the very few clues he left behind. Donald Crowhurst was left deeply trapped in a lose/lose situation of his own making. This book reveals chillingly how he tried to make sense of his self induced impossible predicament, and in the end tragically couldn`t. If you only ever read one book in your life, make sure this is it.
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