Product Description

Just after 10.00 on the night of February 7th 2005, Ellen MacArthur crossed an imaginary line in the sea off Brittany to become the fastest person ever to sail solo round the world. The record was held by a frenchman, Francis Joyon. He'd slashed over 20 days off the previous record and many thought his extraordinary new benchmark would stand for 10 years or more. Most experts thought that the record would be beyond MacArthur. But in a superhuman effort that forced her to dig deeper than ever before, she proved the doubters wrong. Her effort captured the world's imagination and the scenes that greeted her return to Falmouth were euphoric. She had become, some claimed, the finest sailor her country had every produced. Drawing on logs, emails, sound and video diaries, this beautifully designed, fully illustrated book captures the drama, excitement, danger, joy and tears of a truly extraordinary achievement - in Ellen's own words.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23580 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

The Times
'MacArthur is wonderful, fabulous, inspiring. She is a bringer of joy and an emblem of hope'

Sunday Express
'The single greatest sporting feat of the year...in any sport. In any nation'

Synopsis
Just after 10.00 on the night of February 7th 2004, Ellen MacArthur crossed an imaginary line in the sea off Brittany to become the fastest person ever to sail solo round the world. The record was held by a frenchman, Francis Joyon. He'd slashed over 20 days off the previous record and many thought his extraordinary new benchmark would stand for 10 years or more. Most experts thought that the record would be beyond MacArthur. But in a superhuman effort that forced her to dig deeper than ever before, she proved the doubters wrong. Her effort captured the world's imagination and the scenes that greeted her return to Falmouth were euphoric. She had become, some claimed, the finest sailor her country had every produced. Drawing on logs, emails, sound and video diaries, this beautifully designed, fully illustrated book captures the drama, excitement, danger, joy and tears of a truly extraordinary achievement - in Ellen's own words.

Customer Reviews

Good but not as interesting as Taking on the world
Ellen's book "taking on the world" provided an incredible in depth account of her life and career leading up the the vendee globe challenge. This title is quite different, more of a coffee table book with some nice photos but much more sparse content. The text seems to come from Ellen's audio diaries recorded during the record braking solo circumnavigation. The feat accomplished was amazing beyond words, but this account perhaps understandibly gets a little monotonous at times: there's only so many ways you can describe how little sleep you've had or how hard it is to make dozens of sail changes to maintain boat speed in variable winds. Overall, if you like sailing and you understand some of the technical terms behind it then you'll probably find this worthwhile. I would recommend you read it if nothing else just to appreciate the magnitude of what Ellen acheived in this voyage. If you wan't to understand what makes this incredible woman tick then "Taking on the world" is the one to read.

Race against Time
Without grit, determination, & dedication, Ellen's boat wouldn't have even left the harbour where it started! She fought until she won, and that is how she tells this day by day story of stormy seas and silky oceans! When i first read it, i could hardly put it down, because of the urge to read the next day and see what extreme sailing she had been up to in the middle of nowhere. She went out there with the goal to beat the previous record set by a Frenchman Francis Joyon, and from leaving to returning home, she kept that goal every second of the way. Ellen wrote this book in between fighting against the treacherous seas, and hauling the sails up and down, whilst trying to get the odd bit of sleep and then still putting every inch of effort she had into this diary of her days round the world by sea. Her effort captured the world's imagination, and she could not be congratulated enough as just past 10 o'clock on the 7th Feb 2005 Ellen crossed the imaginary line in the sea off Brittany to become the fastest person ever to sail solo around the world! This book inspires you all the way and keeps you there with Ellen, going through what she wanted to achieve. This beautifully designed; fully illustrated book captures the drama, excitement, danger, joy and tears of a truly extraordinary achievement!

Determination got Ellen there!
To me, what Ellen did, was the single greatest sporting moment of the year, she was an inspiration to every person, every country, every religion, every age. This book makes you feel like you were there to some extent and captures your imagination of what it must have been like for her. Within the book, there is more than just pages and pages of writing, there is an obvious meaning, that is, without her grit & determination, Ellen would never have got to where she did, which shows that she wouldn't have even made this book if she didn't really deserve it!!!
Anna sarstedt Age 13