Close to the Wind: An Extraordinary Story of Triumph Over Adversity

On 25 December, 1996, Pete Goss turned his 50-foot yacht Aqua Quorum back into a hurricane-force headwind to rescue French sailor Raphael Dinelli. He risked his life and any chance of winning one of the world's great yachting challenges--the Vendee Globe nonstop, single-handed, round-the-world race. Instead, he was awarded France's highest honor, the Legion d'Honneur.

Close to the Wind is Goss's story. He starts the book with his years of preparation as a merchant seaman and skipper on one of the 10 yachts in Chay Blyth's British Steel Challenge. He describes how he attempted to get sponsorship but was constantly rebuffed, and he discusses the hardships he faced--nights before business meetings spent sleeping on platforms because there was no money to spare for a room, for instance. The drama of the Vendee is recounted in detail, down to Goss's having to operate on his elbow without anesthetic and with only the assistance of faxed instructions. And will he race again? In fact, he plans to set off on in a 115-foot catamaran in The Race, December 2000. --Amazon.co.uk