Ellen MacArthur

Ellen MacArthur is different from other sailors and so it follows that this autobiographical tale is different from other such novels. MacArthur was born and brought up in landlocked Derbyshire but from the age of four was determined to go to sea. This book rather than concentrate on MacArthur's 2000-01 Vendée Globe non-stop circumnavigation of the world but instead centres on the obsessive drive that got her from taking a dinghy out on lakes to sailing a multi-million pound machine single-handedly around the globe.

You don't have to be a sailor to enjoy this book. Yes there are plenty of sailing terms (with a handy glossary) but there are no lengthy paragraphs about waves, winds and sunsets but what shines through on every page is what makes her stand out in a world that is very much a man's sport. Her sheer single-minded force of will.

In parts this is a heart-warming tale of girl done good but long sections about MacArthur's search for sponsorship and credibility suggests that simple pluck alone isn't enough to get you to the starting line these days in what is still a pretty rarefied sport which is a little depressing.

Rather uniquely this book isn't ghost-written but is words are MacArthur's alone. The prose is straightforward and she is frank about her life, her emotions, her frustrations and the loneliness that comes with command and no support. Nor does it end with her triumphant second-placed finish in the Vendée Globe, but details the storm of fame that followed in its wake.

"I found it difficult to cope with the recognition that followed the Vendée... One night... I snapped, so distressed that I began punching the stairs and crying with sheer frustration. My life was out of control, and at that moment there seemed nothing I could do about it."

This is the story about one woman's obsession, the battle with the elements, the labyrinthine world of corporate sponsorship and with oneself and any reader who isn't left full of admiration for this woman is a hard hearted one indeed.… (más)

In the compressed days after competing in one of the toughest race-adventures devised, one option was to employ a ghost-writer to pen this biography. When you read the book you will understand why Ellen wouldn't do it.
For almost as long as she's sailed (she's still only 26), Ellen says she's had this book in her. The Vendee Globe was a later ambition and it's the book, not the race, that closes the first chapter in her life.

So what's the difference? Rich person goes on elitist adventure and finds themselves. South Pole, North pole, round the world, across the world, balloon, boat, on foot, in eight days, in eighty days. Been there, read the biography.

Wrong, Ellen was an outsider. Entranced by the sea from afar in childhood, her book is no ego-trip. She's not cashing in here. She wrote it because she has something to say: Go for it.

She did, and along the way took herself, her family, her friends, the men in her life and a legion of supporters to the brink of despair and edge of elation. For one so determined her compassion is remarkable and unpretentious.

I guess you could learn a lot about sailing by reading this book: how remarkable it is that some sailors get to the start, the danger, the skills, the sleep deprivation, the excruciating discomfort, the camaraderie, the helplessness and the weather. But it ain't what makes the book special.

Not even ten pages of acknowledgements make it special. But the fact I read them all does.

As the finish line to the race that threatened to crush her spirit approached Ellen wished she could turn around and head out to sea again. Reluctant to leave Kingfisher, she tried to steal more time aboard from hordes of press and supporters. As page 394 drew nearer I experienced a similar feeling.

When I rviewed "Taking on the World" on Amazon in 2002 I said, it it wasn't the greatest book I read all year I'd eat my spinnaker. It was.… (más)