Product Description

Knife-edge decisions, adrenaline rushes, extreme weather, bitter rivalries, heart-stopping races - they are all in a day's work for sailing's superman' Ben Ainslie. Ben has won successive golds in the last three Olympics, making him a British hero and our greatest Olympic sailor ever. In 2012 he plans to bid for a fourth. In "Close to the Wind" Ben reveals the truth behind his awesome achievement. A charming spokesperson off the water, he reveals just how ruthless he is on it. He admits to fierce rivalries, above all with Brazilian Robert Scheidt, who robbed a nineteen-year-old Ben of gold in his first Olympics. Ben's twenty-year sailing career, which began on a dinghy in a remote Cornish bay, has a scope unmatched by other sports. In Olympic races he is alone, in his tiny boat, channelling aggression and plotting tactics. Ben's recent forays into the America's Cup are a complete contrast. As a helmsman for the Cup - sailing's glamorous, lucrative Formula One-equivalent, Ben can only succeed by Precision team-work. From his proudest moment representing Team GB, to one tough decision that almost risked destroying his career, this is a unique insight into the man who cannot be second best. It shows what really takes place in the white heat of competition and lifts the lid on this toughest of sports.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5875 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Review
'Take it from a neutral observer: the most accomplished competitor at work in British sport today is Ben Ainslie. Chris Hoy, Lewis Hamilton and Rebecca Adlington deserve praise but the real fanfare should be reserved for Ainslie ... [He has] a combination of dedication, stamina, tactical nous and, the clincher here, a sustained level of ruthlessness rarely witnessed before in British sport.' Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph Sailing's superman The Times

About the Author
Ben Ainslie, CBE, was born in 1977 in Macclesfield. He started sailing at age four and first competed at the age of ten. He has won three Olympic gold medals and was awarded Yachtsman of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

Customer Reviews

A remarkable story of a brilliant yachtsman!
I have been into sailing for many years, growing up in Liverpool and getting involved in it when I went on a sailing trip with the school in North Wales. I went after being talked round by my dad and after that week, I didn't want to come home. I realised I loved it! Ten years later, I STILL love it! I have been a huge fan of Ben Ainslie since Sydney 2000 after watching that race with Robert Scheidt (even if it was in the middle of the night and on a school night). In all my life, I have never been so in awe of any yachtsman who has made sailing so easy and who has dominated the sport and more. Since the tender age of 19, after winning a silver medal in Atlanta to winning his third gold in Beijing, he has become a sailing legend and icon in his own lifetime. His story is something of a movie: from a boy being bullied at school for being different to someone who has proved to his doubter and who have mentally hurt him in the past into a sailing superstar. I have gone back to sailing because after watching his third gold medal attempt last summer in Beijing, reminded me of when I first went sailing ten years before. The America's Cup is the biggest goal on Ainslie's horizon and thank God, we have a brilliant sailor who could bring the famous cup back to Britain. Besides everything he has achieved, he has remained modest and down to earth. Take my word for it and read his story. He's the best thing that has ever happened to British sailing for a long time.

Fabulous
My husband, who was an avid yachtsman, absolutely loved this book. He would recommend it to anyone.

A good book for sailing/olympic enthusiasts
Its a very interesting book about a great sailor but lacking in some detail - I would have like some more substance about his training regime, what it was like helming an ACC boat after winning a gold in a dinghy.


He comes across as rightly guarding his privacy and not subscribing to the celebrity lifestyle but I remember seeing him eating breakfast with a hangover and a cute blond girl in a Cowes pub, when he was helming a Swan in the 2001 Red Funnel Challenge and it would have been good to get some more stories in the book.