Rating: 
Summary: A harrowing adventure story
Review: "Knockdown" is a tale of death and rescue at sea inthe tradition of Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm." Author Martin Dugard recounts the disaster that befell the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race that is the "Superbowl" of yachting in Ausrailia. Every year since the end World War Two, the bravest (and foolhardiest) of Austrailia's sailors set out on this epic race on the day after Christmas. Prior to 1998, there had luckily been few fatalities. Unfortunately, that year the racers' luck ran out and an unexpected hurricane strength storm (a "weather bomb" as the author describes it) descended on the race, killing six people. The storm left an aftermath of wrecked boats and caused the largest seas rescue effort in Austrailian history. That more sailors didn't perish was simply a matter of pure luck with some assistance from modern technology.The only drawback of this book is Dugard's sometimes overly dramatic prose which diminishes rather than enhances his story. Otherwise, anyone with an interest in real life sea adventure stories will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: A harrowing adventure story
Review: "Knockdown" is a tale of death and rescue at sea inthe tradition of Sebastian Junger's "The Perfect Storm." Author Martin Dugard recounts the disaster that befell the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race that is the "Superbowl" of yachting in Ausrailia. Every year since the end World War Two, the bravest (and foolhardiest) of Austrailia's sailors set out on this epic race on the day after Christmas. Prior to 1998, there had luckily been few fatalities. Unfortunately, that year the racers' luck ran out and an unexpected hurricane strength storm (a "weather bomb" as the author describes it) descended on the race, killing six people. The storm left an aftermath of wrecked boats and caused the largest seas rescue effort in Austrailian history. That more sailors didn't perish was simply a matter of pure luck with some assistance from modern technology. The only drawback of this book is Dugard's sometimes overly dramatic prose which diminishes rather than enhances his story. Otherwise, anyone with an interest in real life sea adventure stories will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I feel like I was there...
Review: I found Martin Dugard's account of the Sydney to Hobart race compelling and accurate. Not only did he thoroughly research the facts, but he gives us a heartfelt account that makes one FEEL like you were there. I was riveted and compelled to continue reading, much more than other accounts I have read. Dugard truly seems to have a grasp on the subject matter from both a factual and emotional standpoint. I would like to read other books he has written!!!
Rating:
Summary: I feel like I was there...
Review: I found Martin Dugard's account of the Sydney to Hobart race compelling and accurate. Not only did he thoroughly research the facts, but he gives us a heartfelt account that makes one FEEL like you were there. I was riveted and compelled to continue reading, much more than other accounts I have read. Dugard truly seems to have a grasp on the subject matter from both a factual and emotional standpoint. I would like to read other books he has written!!!
Rating:
Summary: This read will knock your socks off!
Review: I have an extensive library of books about men and women surviving the elements of nature and this book is the best one I have ever read. It details sailing, the sailors, the race, the weather and the outcome without going overboard so that there's an excellent balance of story telling and fact. If you're looking for a read that will put you on board and sail you through an adventure, read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent
Review: I recently finished Knockdown, and being a bit of a stickler for details, I did not appreciate his broad use of terms and vague writing style. For example, the use of "hurricane-force winds" to represent the conditions is ok; to call a weather system a hurricane is different (even when it is not technically a hurricane.) I love adventure books; this one was an entertaining read. I will be looking for one of the other books however, since I want to get a more factual (and accurate) account of the race.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping!
Review: I try not to review books solely by comparing them to other books, but in this case it seems justified. The story of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race has been told in three books (that I know of): G. Bruce Knecht's _The Proving Ground_, Rob Mundle's _Fatal Storm_, and this one. Having read all three, I found Dugard's the least satisfying. All are competent "true adventure" stories, and all deliver the goods on that basic level. Mundle, however, is first-rate journalism, following a wide range of boats and trying to give a precise picture of what happened. Knecht is more focused: an exploration of people facing mortal danger far from civilization, like Krakauer's _Into Thin Air_ and Junger's _Perfect Storm_. Dugard tries to split the difference, narrating the race as a whole while also exploring the reasons why people sailed in the Sydney-Hobart and other blue-water competitions. This would be a tall order for *any* 250-page book, and Dugard fails to pull it off. I was left neither with a good sense of the race as a whole nor with a clear understanding of why the crews involved made the choices they did. Dugard's writing compounds the problem. It veers from breezy and imprecise (confusing if you're not familiar with yacht racing and severe weather, frequently irritating if you are) to ponderous and pretentious. His treatment of the storm as if it were a semi-conscious "enemy" is especially unfortunate because, paradoxically, it diminishes the storm's power. The essential, defining quality of the sea is its utter indifference to the fragile humans who venture out on it. If you're only going to read one book on the 1998 Hobart, do yourself a favor: find a copy of Mundle or Knecht instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Third in a Three-Book Field
Review: I try not to review books solely by comparing them to other books, but in this case it seems justified. The story of the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race has been told in three books (that I know of): G. Bruce Knecht's _The Proving Ground_, Rob Mundle's _Fatal Storm_, and this one. Having read all three, I found Dugard's the least satisfying. All are competent "true adventure" stories, and all deliver the goods on that basic level. Mundle, however, is first-rate journalism, following a wide range of boats and trying to give a precise picture of what happened. Knecht is more focused: an exploration of people facing mortal danger far from civilization, like Krakauer's _Into Thin Air_ and Junger's _Perfect Storm_. Dugard tries to split the difference, narrating the race as a whole while also exploring the reasons why people sailed in the Sydney-Hobart and other blue-water competitions. This would be a tall order for *any* 250-page book, and Dugard fails to pull it off. I was left neither with a good sense of the race as a whole nor with a clear understanding of why the crews involved made the choices they did. Dugard's writing compounds the problem. It veers from breezy and imprecise (confusing if you're not familiar with yacht racing and severe weather, frequently irritating if you are) to ponderous and pretentious. His treatment of the storm as if it were a semi-conscious "enemy" is especially unfortunate because, paradoxically, it diminishes the storm's power. The essential, defining quality of the sea is its utter indifference to the fragile humans who venture out on it. If you're only going to read one book on the 1998 Hobart, do yourself a favor: find a copy of Mundle or Knecht instead.
Rating:
Summary: If You Weren't There You Wouldn't Know
Review: I've read this book, I've read all the others on this race, and I've sailed a number of Sydney-Hobarts. We call the races "Hobarts", not "SydHobs" as Dugard suggests. The '98 race was not easy - we had over 70 knots of wind across our deck and seas of over 20 meters, so no-one would ever suggest it was easy - but nor should it become a vehicle for an opportunist to score a few quick bucks by capitalising on the drama which others experienced, unless it is done professionally. This book just doesn't meet the grade. It is unfortunate that Dugard obviously wrote his book with very little knowledge of sailing (let alone Ocean Racing in storm conditions), or of the race. I'm not sure he has even visited Australia, and suspect the research may have been limited to copies of Press reports and a few phone calls to friends in Sydney. You don't get that knowledge through reading books, nor as a passenger. You only get it by being there, and having the responsibility of delivering your boat and crew against the challenges thrown up by the weather. Certainly given that ocean racing is about judgement calls in a context of nature at its harshest level, only those who are on the water in command of a craft carrying 15 or so other people, who are having to face the elements first hand and in real time, can evert know what it is like. Because sailing in these conditions is not something you can learn out of a text book, it is not something that is mechanical or formula driven - it is about real calls and real delivery in a real situation. Dugard hasn't done it. If he hasn't done it he is not qualified in my view, but is quite probably what we call in Australia an armchair expert. From a point of view of credibility, there are simply too many factual errors in the book, starting from virtually the first page. Some of the errors are appalling, and not simply in the text - even one shot showing the stern of Helsal II is captioned suggesting we are looking at the bow. If the author can't tell the difference between bow and stern, how can he be relied upon to make comment or judgement about how the boats and crews performed or should perform under arduous conditions. Its like the old Vietnam Veterans joke - you weren't there, so you wouldn't know.... An alternative book on the same race is that by Rob Mundle (A Fatal Storm). A better book, more detailed, more objective, and more accurate, compiled from interviews with a wide range of skippers and crews (and he published the interviews themselves), brilliant photos by Richard Bennett, and written by a man who has sailed a few Hobarts himself, so who knows what the journey down the racetrack is really like.
Rating:
Summary: If You Weren't There You Wouldn't Know
Review: I've read this book, I've read all the others on this race, and I've sailed a number of Sydney-Hobarts. We call the races "Hobarts", not "SydHobs" as Dugard suggests. The '98 race was not easy - we had over 70 knots of wind across our deck and seas of over 20 meters, so no-one would ever suggest it was easy - but nor should it become a vehicle for an opportunist to score a few quick bucks by capitalising on the drama which others experienced, unless it is done professionally. This book just doesn't meet the grade. It is unfortunate that Dugard obviously wrote his book with very little knowledge of sailing (let alone Ocean Racing in storm conditions), or of the race. I'm not sure he has even visited Australia, and suspect the research may have been limited to copies of Press reports and a few phone calls to friends in Sydney. You don't get that knowledge through reading books, nor as a passenger. You only get it by being there, and having the responsibility of delivering your boat and crew against the challenges thrown up by the weather. Certainly given that ocean racing is about judgement calls in a context of nature at its harshest level, only those who are on the water in command of a craft carrying 15 or so other people, who are having to face the elements first hand and in real time, can evert know what it is like. Because sailing in these conditions is not something you can learn out of a text book, it is not something that is mechanical or formula driven - it is about real calls and real delivery in a real situation. Dugard hasn't done it. If he hasn't done it he is not qualified in my view, but is quite probably what we call in Australia an armchair expert. From a point of view of credibility, there are simply too many factual errors in the book, starting from virtually the first page. Some of the errors are appalling, and not simply in the text - even one shot showing the stern of Helsal II is captioned suggesting we are looking at the bow. If the author can't tell the difference between bow and stern, how can he be relied upon to make comment or judgement about how the boats and crews performed or should perform under arduous conditions. Its like the old Vietnam Veterans joke - you weren't there, so you wouldn't know.... An alternative book on the same race is that by Rob Mundle (A Fatal Storm). A better book, more detailed, more objective, and more accurate, compiled from interviews with a wide range of skippers and crews (and he published the interviews themselves), brilliant photos by Richard Bennett, and written by a man who has sailed a few Hobarts himself, so who knows what the journey down the racetrack is really like.
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