Read about Ellen MacArthur's triumph (Race Against Time - Ellen MacArthur)

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Race Against Time - Ellen MacArthur
Date:	07/04/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You see and feel every step of the journey.

Disadvantages: Can be a bit repetitive at times.

On the 7th February 2005, Ellen MacArthur became the fastest person to sail around the world solo. Her incredible journey took 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds to complete. Her time beat the previous record holder's, Francis Joyon's, time by over a day. His record stood for only a year; a record which some said would never be beaten.

Sailing solo around the world is an incredible feat of endurance. There's no one else to handle the boat so, if a sailor wants to set the best time, he or she must be prepared to put in many hours per day making adjustments and repairs, without the benefit of any significant periods of sleep.

The sailing is made all the harder, as there are no electric winches or 'power steering'. Everything on the boat that must be moved is shifted manually (Ellen describes the difficultly of raising a sail three times her body weight, several times a day).

Race Against Time is Ellen MacArthur's personal account of her gruelling ordeal. The book is prepared from her personal logs, audio and video diaries, and emails, and was completed soon after the race ended so is an intimate account of her journey.

The book is written as if it's a diary, with each of the 71 days of the race having its own entry. At the head of each day's section, the comparison with Joyon's record is given. Even knowing that Ellen eventually broke this record, seeing an advantage of five days building, only to be whittled away to nothing, gets across some of the tension Ellen felt as she travelled thousands of miles of empty ocean.

This is quite an emotional book. This is the result of using the logs and diaries produced during the record breaking attempt, rather than writing the book later. Ellen travels an emotional rollercoaster, not once but many times, as she battles the weather and her unseen competitor. Sleep deprivation was her constant companion and her exhaustion, on many occasions, leaps off the page.

We share moments of wonder, as when a giant albatross flies around B&Q (the boat's name; no prizes for guessing the sponsor!), despair such as on Christmas day when she's too busy battling the boat to even open the presents left for her, to elation as she finally crosses the finish line.

It's a very personal account and does not pull any punches. Ellen herself, in the introduction, hopes that the reader won't find the book too negative or uncomfortable a read. She needn't have worried; the book balances the emotions perfectly to give the reader a gritty account of what this attempt must have been like.

The book is liberally laced with an unusual blend of different types of photographs. There are, of course, professional quality 'posed' shots of 'B&Q' sailing along. In addition to this, however, there are on-board shots that appear to have been taken with a web cam. These add to the book's atmosphere as the gritty nature of these, taken in all weathers, gives a good account of the moment each was shot.

The book is not perfect; the nature of a 71 day solo race across the seas means that, on some days, nothing much out of the ordinary happened. This is reflected in the entries for those days and can be a bit boring.

In summary, this is a great account of a remarkable feat of human endurance. Her story stands as an inspiration to everyone as to what can be achieved if one wants it enough. Deservedly, Ellen was made 'Dame Ellen' to recognise her achievement. If you'd like to read about the round the world record, then there's no better way than to get "Race Against Time".

The fact that Francis Joyon re-took his record in 2008, beating Ellen's time by over two weeks does not detract from her record breaking achievement.

The book is available from Amazon for £6.99.

Summary: A gritty account of a remarkable achievement.