Rating: 
Summary: Good sailing adventure!
Review: I thought this was an engaging, compelling and thought-provoking book. Yes, there were flaws in the writing, but overall I was absorbed by the narrative and engaged by the personalities of these sailors. What drives these folks to live on the edge of disaster with little chance of rescue?I enjoyed the technical descriptions of how the boats are built, the technology that makes it possible to single-hand these "surf boards with sails" and the grueling physical conditions and personal hardships that the sailors endure. I will be following the Vendee Globe 2000 race on the Web next year!
Rating: 
Summary: Dramatizing High Drama: Reading as a Metaphor for Sailing
Review: I sailed through this book, loving the page-turning breakneck speeds I achieved in its gusts and holding on patiently through the frustrations and disappointments I experienced in its doldrums, digressions and deprivations. In 1996/1997, the drama of the Vendee Round the World yacht race appeared on our television screens: Pete Goss' rescue of Dinelli and the Australian Navy's rescue of Bullimore. But the box didn't do to me nearly as much as what Derek Lundy's book did three years later. The book provides a context, a psychological, social and technical subplot, whereas the box provided a newsy sensationalist headline. Dramatizing action-packed, high drama in a work of non-fiction - this one set mostly in the Southern Ocean in the high latitudes - is difficult to pull off, especially if your readers are outsiders - non-sailors. Lundy, however, grabbed my empathy not only with the sailors in the race (I'm an obsessed Hobie 18 sailor), but also my admiration for him, the writer, for dramatizing the dramatic in a such a way that the human drama blasts through in its full power and glory. It moved me too that Lundy dedicated the book to his father: Just as families bind people, so too does the sea. Lundy makes the reading experience a metaphor for sailing. Like the sailors facing the Godforsaken Sea, Lundy, the writer, faced the daunting prospect of dramatizing high drama. In the process, he's turned what to many is no more than another sport competition into a profound human interest story. Sure there are digressions at the height of the action. Sure there are repetitions - endless repetitions. But these are metaphors for sailing, wave after wave, for thousands of miles, beating against the winds sometimes, running with them at others, now and then becoming becalmed. Lundy uses the digressions as literary devices to heighten the drama when it happens. The structure of the book is interwoven with the sailing experience. At sea, Pete Goss didn't mind that his phone wasn't working most of the time because contact with those on shore distracted him from the sailing and the solitude. Reading Godforsaken Sea was similar. I didn't want to stop. I resented interruptions. I didn't want to leave these characters and their ordeal. When interrupted, by the phone, say, I couldn't wait to get back to the book. I doff my hat to Lundy for telling the story of the sailors in the Southern Ocean so compellingly. I doff my hat to the sailors of the Southern Ocean for sailing in conditions that make Lundy - and I - coo in admiration, and go a little green with envy.
Rating:
Summary: What an Adventure!
Review: Whew! What a story! The book is very well-written and will enable the reader to experience the nail-biting excitement of the Race from the safety of a cozy LazyBoy. I've read other reviews here and found that a few criticized the 'bouncing around'. This actually helps to keep things exciting and the book moves at a quick pace. The short chapters helped me (busy) steal a quick chapter here and there. I found myself reading much of this while engaged in air travel and often caught myself breathing heavily and grunting out 'wow', 'ugh', and 'oh' (fellow passengers often inquired about what I was reading). I'm a Northwest sailor who's experienced some rough weather. This made my experiences seem like pony rides compared to this wild adventure. Imagine spending a few months - alone and non-stop - surfing down 5-story waves at 25 knots and living through it! This is truly an incredible adventure and these are most incredible people. The writer guides you through the experiences of the participants and provides glimpses into the backround and make-up of the super-humans who dreamed, dared, and survived (and those that did not) this ordeal. My only criticism is that the maps were too few and not nearly as detailed as they should have been (pull out your Atlas and you'll be happy). There could have been a few photos that would have made this great book even greater. If you're a sailor, you'll love this book. If not, you'll still be entertained and amazed by what humans can endure and achieve.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story - But Needs Pictures!
Review: Very well written, puts the reader there with the sailor, but having so many descriptions of the world-class sailors throughout the book, it would have been really nice to have had pictures (close-ups) of them & their boats! The only 2 pictures on the back jacket cover where far away & small. Sigh.
Rating:
Summary: A great vicarious thrill....
Review: This is a great vicarious thrill. 16 racers (14 men and 2 women) traverse the world's most dangerous waters for the fame and fortune of winning the Vendee Globe around the world race. Battling constant hurricane conditions, 60-70 foot seas, and the everpresent threat of icebergs; these men and women risk their very lives. Unlike most of the other famous sailing events, this is a single person competition, one person against the elements, guiding their small crafts through what truly are 'godforsaken seas.' Derek Lundy does a great job describing the action, but he deserves far less credit than the bigger-than-life sailors who competed in the Vendee Globe. The only drawback to the book is Lundy's heavy reliance on sailing jargon, but he does a credible job explaining the technical aspects...this makes the book a bit slow at times, but this seems a necessary evil. Overall, a great book, even if you know little about sailing. I can't wait to track the Millenium Vendee Globe.
Rating:
Summary: This book is for everybody!
Review: I bought this book because I'm a sailor and I like reading about sailing adventures. While I was reading this book, I began turning into a bigger sailing wimp than I was. The biggest waves I've sailed in were 12-footers in Lake Michigan during the Mac races. I couldn't imagine sailing single-handed in front of 5-story waves and Force 10 wind conditions. All this and more in a thin-skinned sixty footer with an 80-foot mast for 120 days without touching land (icebergs don't count). These guys are truly the gutsiest bunch of hardy individuals out there. Once I finished the book, I felt this strange desire to do something adventurous. Nothing like sailing around the world like these guys, but something. Maybe a long trip on my Harley, maybe even sailing in 15-footers. At the end of the book, Lundy writes that, to a person, the Globe sailors said that the experience changed the way they looked at life because they reached out beyond the circle that defined their existence. I've got news for you guys, reading about your race changed the way I looked at my life, too. Only my reach isn't as long as yours.
Rating:
Summary: impressive
Review: From a German reader living in the South of France I read the German version. Excellent! Impressive! I'm missing, however, an index. Surprising that there is no French translation so far. When will it be available? I hope Derek Lundy will my question
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read - gripping
Review: I am a sailor who used to race very small sail boats (16' Hobie Cats) in Lake Michigan. I thought I knew what it was like to flip over, or to experience rough, cold water, or to surf 'large' waves, but I was wrong. This book was an eye opener. I could identify with many of the challenges the competitors faced, but I was blown away with the magnitude of sailing in the Southern Ocean. These folks are either the best there is or nuts (or both)! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and intelligent
Review: The first truly thoughtful book on extreme sailing; heck, on extreme sports in general. This book is NOT another addition to the genre of adventure porn, in which the reader is constantly titillated and made to feel that, vicariously, they aren't the sloppy couch potatoes that they probably are. This book approaches this sport from a philosophical and intellectual point of view, and still manages to be a seat-gripping yarn. If you need to be held by the hand and spoon-fed your books, this isn't for you. This one's for intelligent readers, only.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting parts, but poorly organized with weird sidetracks
Review: I enjoyed most of this book, but found myself confused for the first 2 chapters as to where it was going (the first chapters bouce all over the place). Also, the author doesn't seem to have a lot of experience with sailing, which gives him an almost ridiculous awe for these admittedly very talented sailors in the race. The author is very very repetitive about the character it takes to sail at sea for so long, etc... Unfortunately the repetitiveness and confusing interruptions of the flow of the story (sometimes up to 40 pgs long) really interfered with my enjoyment of this book which has probably about the most exciting plot you could imagine. I found myself amazed that I could spend so much time being bored while reading this book. I think the editors must have had their eyes closed while reading the draft of this one.
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