Against All Odds: Around Alone In The BOC Challenge

Against All Odds: Around Alone in the BOC Challenge

From Kirkus ReviewsAn exceedingly deadpan account of a challenge race, an entire circumnavigation of the globe, from a professional (and impoverished) Australian sailor. The BOC Challenge is the longest sailing race for an individual: 27,000 nautical miles, in four stages. In September 1994, Nebauer and 19 other competitors sailed out of Charleston Harbor, S.C., and took anywhere from 121 to 223 days (not counting layovers) before they saw the lights of Charleston again. Nebauer sets the tone of his narrative early: I was determined simply to do my best.'' He's a no-bluster type, never suggesting that he'd like to whip his opponents' collective butt or burn the course for a new record. He was, he says, simply happy to push on, trimming sails and keeping the boat at its peak.'' But this was not to be a cakewalk. His alternators died, forcing him to landfall; water ruined his computer, leaving him unable to receive weather and fleet updates, or news from home; screaming winds, high seas, and rogue waves dismasted him and tore off his rudder--both profoundly dangerous events. Others might have panicked or given up, but Nebauer stays almost too steady: He put his plans for the jury rigging to God'' and waxes stoically that we were determined to finish what we started.'' What enlivens the tale are Nebauer's evocative descriptions of the spectacular weather that rolls over him, and his comfortable use of sailing argot: beam winds and rhumb lines, third reef points, luff grooves, and flaking genoas. After 181 days at sea, after all the adversity and exhaustion, after so much sheer terror, Nebauer finished in the middle of the pack, won two medals for seamanship (one for saving the life of a fellow competitor), and found energy to note that he looked forward to the possibility of taking up the challenge again.'' Taciturn and terse, he is true to form to the last. (60 illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright 1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.Against All Odds is the true story of Alan Nebauer's remarkable experiences in the 1994-95 BOC Around the World Race for singlehanded sailors. Sailing as a Class II competitor aboard the 50-foot Newcastle Australia, Alan Nebauer had to endure incredible difficulties in a race that lasted almost eight months and covered 27,000 miles.The book recounts the author's rescue of a fellow English competitor, his experience of being dismasted and rounding Cape Horn with a jury rig, and of the loss of his rudder north of the Falkland Islands, sailing with a steering oar to Punta del Este. Beyond this, it is a testament to Alan's extraordinary courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds, and to his outstanding seamanship, for which he deservedly won two awards.ReviewSailing around Cape Horn under jury rig is like climbing Mount Everest in thongs. Alan's seamanship and tenacity are tremendous.'' (Adams, David 1995 Australian Yachtsman of the Year)[Nebauer's] first-hand account of this star-crossed voyage is a lesson in perserverance and, ultimately, a tale of triumph.'' (McCormick, Herb Executive editor, Cruising World)