Taking on the World (Hardcover)

Partly because Ellen's aim truly is her life story, as she wants to tell it, rather than a record of the Vendee ghostwritten with a professional auther and sandwiched with a bit of bio. Partly because there's little sense of cash-in here - it's 10 months since Ellen was significantly in the public eye, as opposed to just that of the sailing world, and the book seems a more considered and worthwhile exercise for that distance. But mostly because she tries much harder than others have to convey the emotions of ocean racing, rather than just the impressions. There's no attempt to either hide or gloss over here - for example the verbatim emails to shore manager Mark Turner, full of typing mistakes and intense passions, are a brave yet successful approach.

By giving so much of herself - her childhood, her doubts, fears and dreams, and her relationships with family and friends - within the book, Ellen establishes a vein of honesty and intimacy that means we're then in a better position than with any other author I can think of (even the genre's classics, such as Bernard Moitessier) to understand the love of the sea and sailing that drives such individuals.

And of course, at the end of the day this is still a cracking good adventure. Even if you've never sailed on anything other than a cross channel ferry, it's impossible not to get swept up in the tale of the 2000-1 Vendee, and to share the sense of drama, excitement and achievement. I remember those three months so well, stuck in an office but subscribing to Ellen's daily emails, and my delight at the almost unreal way in which sailing finally got some national attention. Six months later I'd finally moved from a weekend sailing habit to a transatlantic passage and more, inspired in part by Ellen.

If just a percentage of the people who read this book are similarly inspired to sail, great. But if even more can see that this book's message isn't limited to sailing, that it's universal and is about how dedication can get you anywhere, all the better.

A donf!

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For almost as long as she's sailed (she's still only 26), Ellen says she's had this book in her. The Vendée Globe was a later ambition and it's the book, not the race, that closes the first chapter in her life.

So what's the difference? Rich person goes on elitist adventure and finds themselves. South Pole, North pole, round the world, across the world, balloon, boat, on foot, in eight days, in eighty days. Been there, read the biography.

Wrong, Ellen was an outsider. Entranced by the sea from afar in childhood, her book is no ego-trip. She's not cashing in here. She wrote it because she has something to say: Go for it.

She did, and along the way took herself, her family, her friends, the men in her life and a legion of supporters to the brink of despair and edge of elation. For one so determined her compassion is remarkable and unpretentious.

I guess you could learn a lot about sailing by reading this book: how remarkable it is that some sailors get to the start, the danger, the skills, the sleep deprivation, the excruciating discomfort, the camaraderie, the helplessness and the weather. But it ain't what makes the book special.

Not even ten pages of acknowledgements make it special. But the fact I read them all does.

As the finish line to the race that threatened to crush her spirit approached Ellen wished she could turn around and head out to sea again. Reluctant to leave Kingfisher, she tried to steal more time aboard from hordes of press and supporters. As page 394 drew nearer I experienced a similar feeling.

If "Taking on the World" isn't the greatest book I read this year I'll eat my spinnaker.

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This book is truely sensationl and inspiring. It is a must read and i guarantee anyone who reads this book will feel the same.

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