In January 1969, aboard his home-built wooden boat Suhaili, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person ever to sail solo, non-stop around the world. 25 years later, Sir Robin again completed a record-breaking circumnavigation, co-skippering Enza with Kiwi yachting legend Sir Peter Blake. His place in sailing's pantheon of greats was assured. Then, after the tragic death of his wife Sue, Sir Robin decided he would try again. In October 2006, at the age of 67 - when most people are settling in to a well-earned retirement - Sir Robin embarked on another gruelling single-handed race around the world. Compared to his rivals he lacked recent experience and a large shore-based support team. There were some who believed that this time he might have bitten off more than he could chew. Then early on, it looked like their worst fears might be realised.Within days of setting off, near-Hurricane-strength storms in the Bay of Biscay capsized his 60' yacht Saga Insurance. But it wasn't just Sir Robin who suffered. Three-quarters of the entire fleet had to run for shelter. When they re-emerged, all faced months of hardship and intensity ahead. "Force of Nature" is Sir Robin's first-hand account his extraordinary return to the ultra-competitive, punishing world of single-handed offshore racing. It turned out to be a very different journey to the one he undertook about Suhaili, yet his experience aboard her remains a touchstone throughout this story. It's a story of courage, ingenuity and resilience played out against the World's oceans. But most of all it's a powerful reminder that age is nothing but a number; no barrier to realizing one's dreams.

Force of Nature

Robin Knox-Johnston

Sports & Outdoors

Penguin??Books

From Googlebooks:Originally published in 1970, Robin Knox-Johnston's A World of My Own has become a treasured classic - the dramatic account of the first nonstop, single-handed voyage around the world, for which Knox-Johnston won the Sunday Times Golden Globe trophy. On June 14, 1968, Suhaili, a tiny ketch, slipped almost unnoticed out of Falmouth harbor while Knox-Johnston's family and a few friends waved goodbye to the solitary twenty-nine-year-old figure at the helm. His was an incredible adventure, a feat of endeavor and seamanship which will be unsurpassed and unforgotten. Sheer determination helped him survive every imaginable difficulty: Several knockdowns in the Southern Ocean, the disintegration of the self-steering system, polluted water tanks and acid burns were among the numerous setbacks he encountered even before reaching Cape Horn, the fearsome test of any seaman's nerve.

A world of my own: The singlehanded, non-stop circumnavigation of the world in Suhaili

Water Sports

Littlehampton Book Services Lt

A guide to sailing and boat management with information on ideas, methods and materials.

Seamanship

W.W.Norton&Company

Traces the history of yachting, from its beginnings in seventeenth-century Holland to the present, describing the development of yachts and yacht clubs, famous races and records, famous yachts, and the colorful characters of yachting

Yachting: The History of a Passion

Hearst Marine Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robin Knox-Johnston. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Robin Knox-Johnston

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Robin Knox-Johnston. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Force of Nature

A world of my own: The singlehanded, non-stop circumnavigation of the world in Suhaili

Seamanship

Yachting: The History of a Passion