Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Knecht nailed it!
Review: Anyone who has ever been on a competitive sailing yacht and been in nasty weather will read this book in an afternoon, unable to put it down. The book is written with tremendous insight and puts you in the danger and makes it feel real. Great book and a quick fun read for any sailor.
Rating:
Summary: Plenty more than you saw on CNN
Review: As a reader who tends to progress gently through most books, Proving Ground stood out as a book I could not put down - I actually took a slower train to guarantee myself more reading time between meetings! In the two days I spent engrossed in the tale, I was never quite here - instead, my mind was constantly on the situation off the South East coast of Australia. What draws you in is the author's narrative style, which makes this an exciting novel not a dry historical record. You really get to know individuals, although the large number of characters can make it hard to remember them as they appear later in the book - easily remedied by turning back to remind yourself about them. If you saw the CNN documentary by the same name, you would have been lucky enough to hear directly from a small sample of the participants who actually feature in the book. Yet the limits of televisual reconstruction meant only a few of the dramatic moments described in the book made it onto TV. It would be a grave mistake not to read this book believing you saw its contents on television already. I was left wanting more - I suppose that is intended - and also wondering what else is known but not spoken about that fatal race, as mariners treat lost colleagues diplomatically. Not that all punches are pulled in the book, and good guys and baddies certainly emerge. As I sail to Catalina this weekend, I will be double checking the weather forecast...
Rating:
Summary: Read This One on Dry Land
Review: As an author with my debut novel in its initial release, I know a great story when I read one. G. Bruce Knecht's THE PROVING GROUND tells one of the most exciting sea stories of recent years. Knecht's book, nonfiction, provides an up close and personal report of the disastrous Sidney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1998. Knecht examines the obsession of many of the competitors and tells of one the most tragic competitions in modern sporting history. Over one hundred yachts sailed from Sidney, yet less than half that number reached Hobart. Six sailors lost their lives, and dozens of others needed rescued from the sea. Adverse weather caused the disaster, and Knecht tells this whale of a tale of eighty-foot waves wiping out numerous competitive crafts. Knecht also presents the pressures of competition, the drive of several crews, and the reactions of many individuals to various forms of stress. This book is an excellent one. Just don't read it while riding out a storm at sea.
Rating:
Summary: Sea Story
Review: As an experienced offshore sailor, I found Knecht's book absolutely riveting. He sets out to examine why it is that already highly-successful people (who don't necessarily have anything to prove) are tempted to put their lives at stake competing in a yacht race. He then goes on to describe and examine what went wrong, and why. He deals with the meteorology, the nature of the yachts, the personalities of the crews, and their reactions to severe stress and, in some cases, disaster. Offshore sailors know why we do it anyway: racing yachts is exciting and challenging. Knecht reports impartially on the attitudes and judgement capacities of those he interviewed. He asks all the right questions, and passes no judgement on the answers. He does not attempt to draw conclusions, and makes no recommendations. He reports, and well. Non-sailors will enjoy this book because it is so damn exciting. They will be amazed - maybe horrified as well as stirred - at some of the characters and events described. Sailors will enjoy it too, recognising events and personalities that we have all seen before, but maybe on a less extreme scale and under less extreme circumstances. Sailors SHOULD read this book because it will give them a better understanding of the well-worn maxim that "what CAN go wrong sooner or later WILL go wrong". Then they may be better prepared for that awful event, but it still won't stop them going to sea!
Rating:
Summary: An Awesome Challenge
Review: Competiting in the awesome challenge known as The Hobart must bring apprehension almost beyond imagination. Any writer wishing to chronical the race must also be prepared for a intimidating test of endurance and skill. On both points, this book captures the spirit and adventure of the disaster that was the '98 edition of one of sailing's most important annual events. I couldn't stop reading once I started, particularly enjoying the cadence and tone which coincide so precisely with the story's action. I think this is one of the best books about the sea ever written, from the dual perspectives of the language used as well as the character analysis obtained via detailed research.
Rating:
Summary: How real people behave under stress
Review: Having competed in 7 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races including the similar 1993 race and, knowing many of the central characters in the book, this was an exciting and telling account of what faced the competitors in the 1998 race. Bruce's story is fantastic; it not only gives the reader a feel for the conditions but also for the characters of the people who were central to the story. The most interesting aspect for me was seeing that what I had learnt about myself and my fellow crewmates in the 1993 race rings loud and true. In a situation such as the Hobart Race, decisions that are made not only determine the outcome of the race but can also save or lose lives. If you have the slightest doubt about your own capabilities and experience and, most importantly, the capabilities and experience of your fellow crew mates, don't put to sea! Its those little cracks and flaws in character that you sense about someone that, under extreme stress, can result in disaster. The book also highlights four situations where four individuals could have changed the outcome for their boat by speaking out against a clearly wrong decision but did not. Unfortunately in two of these situations, lives were lost that could have been saved and in the third, reputations and names have been destroyed forever. While the setting is a yacht race, its really a story about the behavior of people under extreme stress. Reality TV: Forget it! This is real. Hollywood; If you make this into a movie, do us a favour and do a better job than Wind, The Perfect Storm and Water World. This story deserves better!
Rating:
Summary: Someone who knows
Review: Having competed in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart, I can reccomend this book, for anyone who wants to find out what it was like. The book captures the essence of the Hobart Race, the friendships that develop between those who sail together, the reason people return to the race and to the helplessness that you feel in such a big sea. Not only is this book a great read, it is also an accurate depiction of what happened.
Rating: 
Summary: a rivetting account of a deadly race
Review: I liked this book more than the other one I read on the same race (although they are both worth reading). The race itself makes for an incredible story as scores of yachts headed out into one of the worst storms to ever hit the southern hemisphere. The author did a fantastic job of weaving together the stories and personalities of the various boats, the worsening storm and the groundbreaking rescue efforts. After reading both of these books, I can say that the Austrialisn Search and Rescue is the finest in the world. This book reminds me quite a bit of The Perfect Storm -- the format is similar: background information about the sailors, the WEATHER (which takes a central role), the race and the subsequent rescues (this last stage unfortunately never happened in Junger's book). I'm not a sailor, but the author explains enough about the terminology so that anyone can follow. Gripping from start to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit disconcerting
Review: I read An Extreme Event (about the 98 Sydney-Hobart race) prior to reading Knecht's book, so that was my benchmark. And a high one at that. Proving Ground contained a lot more descriptive information in terms of the characters, but ... I found his concentration on particular personalities in the book very disconcerting. It was baffling that he could practically write what Glyn Charles was thinking ... when Glyn was unable to speak for himself. These assumptions and supposition are quite offensive. I also found Knecht's intricate descriptions of the powerplays involved with some of the pivotal characters alarming. Bob Koethe, Steve Kulmar, Richard Purcell and Glyn Charles, specifically. While I do not doubt his authenticity in describing the interplay, I found the inclusion in such detail perplexing. My aim was to read the facts, not to become embroiled in the dramatic tension on board certain yachts in such dire conditions. At times, I almost felt a compulsion to "take sides" with some people, opposing others, which I roundly resisted. It is, after all, Knecht's presentation and everyone interprets events, thoughts and words slightly differently. All in all, not bad, but not great.
Rating:
Summary: A bit disconcerting
Review: I read An Extreme Event (about the 98 Sydney-Hobart race) prior to reading Knecht's book, so that was my benchmark. And a high one at that. Proving Ground contained a lot more descriptive information in terms of the characters, but ... I found his concentration on particular personalities in the book very disconcerting. It was baffling that he could practically write what Glyn Charles was thinking ... when Glyn was unable to speak for himself. These assumptions and supposition are quite offensive. I also found Knecht's intricate descriptions of the powerplays involved with some of the pivotal characters alarming. Bob Koethe, Steve Kulmar, Richard Purcell and Glyn Charles, specifically. While I do not doubt his authenticity in describing the interplay, I found the inclusion in such detail perplexing. My aim was to read the facts, not to become embroiled in the dramatic tension on board certain yachts in such dire conditions. At times, I almost felt a compulsion to "take sides" with some people, opposing others, which I roundly resisted. It is, after all, Knecht's presentation and everyone interprets events, thoughts and words slightly differently. All in all, not bad, but not great.
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