books about sailboat racing

32 Best Sailing Books For Current and Future Yachtsmen

Heading out on a sailing adventure? Need some inspiration away from the YouTube creators we often featured? Then you’re in the right place.

We have rounded up the best books for sailing enthusiasts. You’ll find highly respected books on racing, cruising and sailboat maintenance for your next adventure on the open seas!

1. Chapman Piloting & Seamanship 69th Edition

One of the best sailing books available, the Chapman Piloting & Seamanship 69th Edition is a comprehensive book with descriptions, illustrations, and pictures for every situation.

Whether the need is a guide for it all or looking for some tips, the book has an easy-to-use index that makes it simple to find information. 

2. The Complete Sailing Manual  

The Complete Sailing Manual by Steve Sleight is a detailed book written by sailors for sailors. 

It delves into the latest advancements in sailing, keeping the reader updated and ready to handle any situation.

3. Fifty Places to Sail Before You Die

Searching for a new, exciting place to sail can be exhausting. Chris Santella has an extensive list of options to bring back that exhilaration.

The handy guide gets inspiration by asking well-known sailors and athletes about their favorite places to sail.

4. The Ultimate Book of Everyday Knots  

Every sailor needs to know how to tie a good knot, and Geoffrey Budworth has a fantastic instruction tool to start.

This book has illustrations of common knots used in sailing and other sports, with directions to ensure every tie is a success.

5. Bargain Boats and Budget Cruising  

Sailing can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. Todd Duff has expert advice to keep the cost down.

This guide goes through the process of finding an economical boat and refitting it, so you can enjoy the water without breaking the bank.

6. Illustrated Sail & Rig Tuning  

Sometimes a picture can be just what’s needed, and Ivar Dedekam has detailed illustrations for everything relating to sailing.

This handy guide explains the necessities of sailing and the theories to get the most out of any boat.

7. The Alaska Cruise Handbook  

The wild waters of Alaska are a worthy goal for any sailor. With insights from Joe Upton, planning a journey through the Alaskan coast is more than practical.

Plan ports and explore the natural beauties of Alaska from the comfort of a personal sailboat.

8. The Sailing Bible

Jeremy Evans, Pat Manley, and Barrie Smith put together an extensive work covering the basics of sailing to niche activities like racing.

Even the most seasoned sailors can find something in one of the best sailing books around to enrich their knowledge, and beginners will feel ready to hit the water.

9. World Cruising Essentials  

Taking on a long voyage can seem like a daunting task. Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Essentials makes the trip doable. This happens to be my favorite book on this list!

Learn about everything to prepare for the cruise and get crucial tips for spending the days at sea.

10. Landfalls of Paradise  

Exploring the Pacific Islands can be a dreamy escape, and Earl R. Hinz’s writing makes it a carefree journey.

This guide has updated charts and descriptions to help make any sailing through the Pacific Islands easy to plan and execute. 

11. The Voyager’s Handbook  

Extended trips are one of the most fulfilling ways to experience life on the open seas, and Beth Leonard has a handbook to achieve it. Another personal favorite!

It not only covers the essentials needed on the boat but explains practical tips for keeping boat life enjoyable.

12. The World’s Best Sailboats: Boxset Vol.1&2  

Ferenc Máté’s The World’s Best Sailboats has detailed pictures, illustrations, and descriptions of the finest boats in the world. Enjoy appreciating the fine craftsmanship while learning what makes certain boats excel.

This volume isn’t only fun to flick through as its information can be invaluable when selecting a boat.

13. The Big Book of Boat Canvas  

Customizing a boat can be a fun way to make the vessel feel like home. One option is canvas, and Karen Lipe is here to explain multiple sewing projects.

From practical objects like sail covers to interior cushions, the options are endless in this handbook.

14. Sailing: The Basics  

Newcomers will appreciate Dave Franzel’s book as it helps people get on the water and become sailors in no time. It follows his fundamental principle that time in the water is key to learning, so it gets through the essentials fast.

Get from the docks to the water in record time, and feel confident doing it.

15. The Blue Book of Sailing  

Adam Cort hopes to take the reader of any experience level and turn them into true sailing experts. Through simple lessons, it explains everything needed to sail.

Some basic knowledge of sailing can be necessary for reading, but anyone will benefit from the tips.

16. BoatSense: Lessons and Yarns from a Marine Writer’s Life Afloat  

Combining narrative and guidebook, the unique BoatSense: Lessons and Yarns from a Marine Writer’s Life Afloat gives realistic tips based on Doug Logan’s experience.

The true tales from this sailor aren’t just for fun, as they pleasantly explain crucial teachings that are usually exclusive to years of sailing.

17. The International Marine Book of Sailing  

The International Marine Book of Sailing by William Robinson is great for beginners looking to learn everything. 

This book has handy illustrations and other valuable insights neatly organized to get the reader ready to sail as soon as possible.

18. The Ashley Book of Knots  

This comprehensive book covers around 3,900 types of knots with brief descriptions, drawn guides, and other information. 

This manual not only covers basic knots but includes complex versions that can be used on the boat or to impress friends.

19. The Handbook Of Sailing  

For visual learners, Bob Bond has thousands of diagrams and color photos to explore the basic techniques of setting sail. 

The guidebook has helpful descriptions to accompany the pictures and assists the reader through any situation.

20. Sailing America  

See the beauties of the United States from coast to coast in this picture collection from Onne van der Wal. Enjoy the views from the sea without even sailing across thousands of miles.

Whether it’s for inspiration or to admire the expert photography, any sailor can appreciate the beautiful landscapes in this book.

21. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship  

Another comprehensive guide that covers everything from the basics to handling extreme conditions. John Rousmaniere is on hand to get the reader for any sailing situation.

This book progresses from the simplest tasks to the most challenging endeavors, with traditional techniques mixed with newer innovations.

22. Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of the Offshore Yachts 

Searching for a sea-worthy vessel can be a challenging task, but Steven L. Davis aims to make it much easier.

This guidebook examines trends and other information to prepare the reader for the boat market. That data will be invaluable to understanding what to look for when choosing their own.

23. Sailing Is Fun!: A Beginners Manual For Young Sailors  

Kids looking to sail can learn the basics from Charles D. Dawson. His book uses only simple terms, making it easy for children to follow.

It stresses water safety to keep youngsters safe, and it’s an invaluable tool for anyone wanting to pass on sailing traditions.

24. The Best Used Boat Notebook  

A cost-effective way to get into sailing is through a used boat, and The Best Used Boat Notebook from John Kretschmer gives every tip needed. 

This detailed guide breaks down the specifics any potential boat owner should know.

25. The Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands 

Explore the crystal waters of the Virgin Islands with help from Simon Scott’s experience. 

It also includes a handy chart that folds out to aid your plans for the sailing voyage.

26. Marina’s Best  

A significant portion of sailing is in marinas, and anyone hoping to manage their marina can get the knowledge necessary from Dr. Amos Raviv.

This work guides the reader through everything necessary to run a marina and ensures sailors understand the rules and regulations of marina use.

27. Crewing to Win

Racing sailboats is an intense sport, and it relies on crew teamwork. To build the best team, try reading Crewing to Win by Saskia Clark.

This handbook explains how to form a team, set goals, and keep things running smoothly out on the water.

28. Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes

Outrigger canoes are a unique and traditional form of sailing, often handmade by indigenous Hawaiians .

Building Outrigger Sailing Canoes by Gary Dierking helps explain the best way to create an outrigger canoe with contemporary methods.

29. Reeds Skipper’s Handbook  

Owning a small index of essential knowledge can be invaluable at sea, and Malcolm Pearson’s Reeds Skipper’s Handbook is just that.

This book is an indispensable guide for any experienced sailor, as it’s easy to reference and find exactly what you’re looking for.

30. The Best of Sail Trim  

This volume is a compilation of the best articles from SAIL magazine, collected for ease of access. Explore tips ranging from cruises to racing.

The information in this book is easy and enjoyable to read while giving plenty of priceless tips.

31. Elvstrøm Explains the Racing Rules: 2021-2024 Rules  

Get into racing with this complete guide Elvstrøm Explains the Racing Rules: 2021-2024 Rules. Written by the Olympic sailor Paul Elvstrom, learn all the ins and outs to win first place.

This book has a quick reference guide for racing flags and ways to help plan the best course.

32. Maneuver and Dock Your Sailboat Under Power  

Docking a boat can be one of the most challenging tasks a sailor can undertake. Maneuver and Dock Your Sailboat Under Power by Grant Headifen prepares the reader for docking in any condition.

Feel confident sailing into the marina with one of the best sailing books focused on navigation, and never risk bumping into the docks again.

My Cruiser Life Magazine

18 of the Best Books on Sailing

I know–we’re all “connected” and glued to YouTube and online forums. But the truth is, you can’t replace a book. That’s right, a real, honest-to-God, turn the pages and read something, book-book!

The best books on sailing can be divided into a few categories. First, the non-fiction, fun-to-read ones make the best books on sailing adventures. Then there are the non-fiction sailing stories–the stories of solo racing, around-the-world travel logs, or survival at sea.

But, as a boater, you will also want to pick up some of the best books on sailing and seamanship. You’ll likely keep these titles as references onboard for when something breaks or you need a quick refresher!

So, without further ado, here’s a list of the best books on sailing stories for the ages.

Table of Contents

Best books on sailing stories – sailing adventure books, best books on the history of sailing – sailing books of the past, best books on solo race sailing, best books on sailing adventures and best books on sailing voyages, best books on sailing for beginners, best books on sailing and seamanship – books that should be on every boat bookshelf, what’s your favorite sailing book.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

Flirting with Mermaids: The Unpredictable Life of a Sailboat Delivery Skipper John Kretschmer

Kretschmer is a celebrity in the sailing circuit, having worked for decades as a delivery skipper and now operating a popular offshore teaching charter on his Kauffman 47 Quetzal . He’s written for many major sailing magazines and has several excellent books about hurricanes and storm sailing.

But this book is a little more informal and a little more intimate. Kretschmer weaves personal anecdotes with sailing know-how to create an engaging tale that’s both fun to read and informative. The result is one of the best entertaining books on sailing that you can find.

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An Embarrasement of Mangoes Anne Vanderhoof

This is a real-life tale of a foodie gone cruising. Anne and her husband set out in a 42-foot sailboat from the US east coast, bound for the Caribbean. Each stop in the 16 countries and 47 islands along the way brings the sort of nautical misadventures you’d expect.

But the thing that brings this book home for me is the idea of taking one’s passions with them when traveling. I, too, am a devout foodie. Vanderhoof shares not her cruising dreams but also the culture and the ingredients that make each spot special–and even includes recipes.

From catching shrimp on the ICW to enjoying a Bahamian cracked conch for the first time, this one kept me turning pages the whole way through.

Float Plan Trish Doller

After facing a devastating loss, Anna decides a sailing trip is just the ticket she needs. She needs her own adventure and to see if salt water is indeed the cure for everything, all while her family questions her plans and worries for her safety at sea.

After an eventful sail to the Bahamas, Anna hires a captain to show her the ropes. The story is a delightful mix of rom-com, adventure, and travel as Anna discovers the highs and lows of the sailing lifestyle.

Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening Liz Clark

Swell is the modern sailing story of a young surfer from California who sets out on the adventure of a lifetime, cruising through Mexico and, eventually, the South Pacific Ocean. Clark tells her story with enviable honesty, chronicling her journey of personal growth as well as her sailing adventure.

Liz has been sailing her 40-foot Cal Swell for over ten years now, visiting many exotic islands and meeting people that fellow sailors only dream about. Many times she’s alone, or in the company of only her cat. Swell touches on every aspect of her journey, from relationship drama to technical boat problems that had her stuck in Tahiti for more than a year.

Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum

I love this book for its historical perspective. Dreaming of casting off the lines and sailing into the sunset isn’t a new thing. Slocum was the first to circumnavigate by himself, setting out from 1893 to 1894 on his small sailboat Spray .

As you might imagine, cruising was a little different back then. One of the best books on the history of shipbuilding sailing, it offers a fascinating glimpse into what it was like in the late 19th century. Most of the spots visited were not set up for yachts, after all, and there was no Panama Canal. Join Slocum as he cruises the Magellan Straights and makes his way, navigating by stars (newsflash: the was no GPS back then, either!)

This classic is a free download on Kindle.

The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float Farley Mowat

Mowat’s humor will pull you into this story, a perfect read for anyone considering buying a fixer-upper sailboat. His tales of the dangerous hand-crank diesel motor and the leaky wooden boat might seem archaic, but anyone who’s owned a boat will rejoice in understanding that it’s always been this way–it’s just what boats do.

This is also, for a change, a northern adventure that sets out from the shores of Newfoundland. If ever there’s a place where you’d like your boat to float, it’s where the water is that cold!

Unfortunately, this is one of the only books on the list that has yet to make it to a Kindle or ebook version. You can pick up a paperback for under $10, though.

The Long Way (The Pivitoal Novel of the Golden Globe Race) Bernard Moitessier

Some books have inspired sailors for decades, and many of those sailors point to Moitessier’s The Long Way as one of the most impactful. It’s the story of the first Golden Globe Race–a solo, around-the-world, non-stop route by way of all three Great Capes in the Southern Ocean.

Moitessier’s story is one of surviving solo at sea, with knock-downs, gear failures, storms, and doldrums. In the end, he sailed 37,455 miles before he touched land.

Maiden Voyage Tania Aebi

At 18, Aebi became the youngest person and the first American woman to sail around the world alone. This book is her story and follows her 1985 journey of two-and-a-half years and 27,000 miles.

Bumfuzzle Patrick Schulte

Catamarans have made their mark on the world, and their impressive sailing performance and layouts continue to draw in new cruisers. Meet the young couple Ali and Pat, who decide over drinks that they should sail around the world on one.

One year later, they found the boat and set sail. With no sailing background or boating experience, the couple spent four years sailing around the world. They learn what they need along the way, get into trouble, and get out of trouble.

The most interesting thing about the book is that they are not conventional sailors–they aren’t into technicalities. They want to travel, and their catamaran lets them do it. This is a major shift for many sailors, and the couple makes it clear right off the bat that they don’t subscribe to the “norms.”

Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson

If you haven’t read the original pirate yarn Treasure Island since grade school, do yourself a favor and find a Kindle copy to reread. You might find buried treasures in this long-forgotten “kids” story.

And if the OG pirate tale piques your interest, consider hopping over to our ultimate list of best sailing movies and give Black Sails a watch. The show tells the back story of some characters from the book, like Long John Silver and Captain Flint.

Sailing Made Easy ASA

This is the textbook for ASA 101, the entry-level sailing course from the American Sailing Association. There are plenty of other books like it, but this one is super easy to learn from and designed by experts. It’s full of full-color graphics and diagrams and teaches using the building blocks method. Start with simple sailing terms and sailing knots , and work your way up to sail trim and handling the boat with easy, step-by-step instructions.

If you’re debating about getting into sailing without any experience, this book is a great place to start. So give it a read, and maybe you’ll want to make it interactive by taking the course from your nearest sailing school.

Coastal Cruising Made Easy ASA

This is the textbook for ASA 102, Coastal Cruising. It takes the introductory information from 101 and expands on it, giving you the confidence to navigate farther from the marina and tackle some longer journeys. You’ll learn more about navigation, planning a big trip, and fine-tuning your sailing skills.

• Full color, richly illustrated, 176-pages

Related: Best Boat for Beginners

Some books belong on the shelf in every boat, even if you’re tight on space. Of course, digital bookshelves count, but some of these references are invaluable to be able to pick up and flip through.

Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual Don Casey

For beginners contemplating living on a sailboat , you cannot go wrong with this how-to guide that covers every part of boat ownership. Even if you aren’t looking at a fixer-upper, this book will walk you through the hows and whys of boat ownership and maintenance.

This hardcover is a collection of five smaller books, making it the ultimate compendium for your shelf. Here are the five titles included to give you an idea of the wide-ranging topics.

• Inspecting the Aging Sailboat
• Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair
• Sailboat Refinishing
• Sailboat Electrics Simplified
• Troubleshooting Marine Diesels
• Canvaswork and Sail Repair

The great thing about this text is that it grows with the reader. Section one teaches you how to perform your own survey on a vessel, an invaluable step to consider before making an offer and hiring a professional surveyor.

The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800 Everyday Recipes and Essential Tips for Cooking Aboard Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons

Before you even get to the great recipes, this book contains great information you should have on hand in a cruising boat. Substitutions, how to store things without a refrigerator (or with a tiny one!), and what to look for in foreign markets are just a few examples.

The recipes are practical for the boater, with one-pan dishes and lots of potluck favorites. But there are also helpful tips on how to do things landlubbers may never have thought about, like baking bread in a tiny galley or cleaning a fresh-caught lobster.

Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual Nigel Calder

Calder’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual is the bible of boat maintenance for DIY and cruising owners. It provides the theory and the basics, industry-standard how-to guides, and basic troubleshooting steps.

The importance of this book cannot be overstated. While many things on boats seem straightforward, particularly to folks already DIY savvy, there is still much to learn. Calder provides a baseline of how things should be done and a good summary of the regulations and ABYC standards for things like electrical wiring and plumbing.

The Voyager’s Handbook Beth A. Leonard

If you’re wondering over the how-tos of making the splash into the cruising world, Leonard’s Voyager’s Handbook is an excellent resource. The book considers some of the important topics that few people discuss openly. For example, exactly how much does it cost to sail around the world? What sort of boat do you need, and how should it be outfitted?

Of course, these are hard questions to answer because everyone does it differently. Leonard tackles these difficult issues by dividing the cruising world into sectors–the budget cruisers, the middle-of-the-road folks, and the luxurious living large set.

No matter which group you put yourself in, this book helps you plan for the adventure. Whether you need help finding the right boat and outfitting it, weather forecasting and heavy-weather sailing, and managing emergencies, Leonard’s is a resource you should keep close at hand.

World Voyage Planner Jimmy Cornell

If you dream of crossing oceans, this book is for you. This is the original how-to guide for sailing around the world. Or around the Atlantic, or Pacific, or where ever you want to go. It includes the basics and the most popular routes, including things you need to think about along the way and an overview of how it’s done. If you’ve ever wondered things like “ how long does it take to sail across the Atlantic ,” then this is the book where you’ll find your answers.

This book is part of Cornell’s World Cruising Series of textbooks. Each book looks similar but has a slightly different purpose.

• World Cruising Routes — Details over 1,000 sailing routes for every major passage around the globe, including climate, storms, and ocean current considerations
• World Voyage Planner — Overview of the most common voyages and how to plan them in the most favorable conditions with background information on global climate and cruising destinations
• World Cruising Destinations — Descriptions and histories for 184 countries, including legal formalities for sailors, climate, and facilities

Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories, and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea John Kretschmer

The title sums this great read up well. Kretschmer has made his living for years as a delivery skipper (read his yarns in the above-mentioned Flirting with Mermaids ). But he also teaches wannabe voyagers and gives lectures on what makes a great bluewater boat. After all, he’s sailed a lot of them first-hand.

Sailing a Serious Ocean recounts some of his biggest lessons to students, including what makes a sound, bluewater boat, and how to deal with storms at sea.

Whether you like a good adventure yarn, some historical drama, or a how-to reference that will be used daily, there are many great options.

One parting thought–the helpfulness of a Kindle onboard cannot be overstated. The basic Kindle Paperwhite is worth a look if you’re an avid reader, and it will always be one of the best gifts for boaters . It’s waterproof (!!!), and its battery lasts weeks without a recharge. In short, it’s the perfect travel companion and allows you to free up space on your shelf–something every boater needs.

• Kindle Paperwhite – Now with a 6.8” display and thinner borders, adjustable warm light, up to 10 weeks of battery life, and 20% faster page turns.

Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Home » Blog » Gear » 25 sailing books every sailor should read

25 sailing books every sailor should read

By Author Fiona McGlynn

Posted on Last updated: January 26, 2023

THE BEST SAILING BOOKS INSPIRE YOU TO GET OUT THERE

Whether you’re looking to do some armchair sailing during the off-season or stock up your floating library with sailing stories for summer cruising, these are the best sailing books for adventure and inspiration.

In this list, you’ll find books about sailing around the world, first-hand accounts of daring Antarctic adventures, true crime nautical thrillers, and meditative musings about life at sea. Be sure to let us know your favorite sailing books in the comments below.

If you’re looking for reference books on boat maintenance and how to sail, check out our post on the nautical books we’ll never go to sea without .

A quick note that this post contains affiliate links (so if you purchase through a link we’ll earn a small commission). All the opinions are our own.

Best books about sailing around the world

1. the long way – bernard moitessier.

This is the book that inspired us to buy a boat and go sailing! Bernard Moitessier was a French sailor who raced in the 1968 Golden Globe, the first single-handed around the world race.

He sails from England alone for several months and when it seems he is just about to win…(well, I won’t spoil it for you!). His account is a great adventure story and also a deep meditation on zen philosophy.

2. Sailing Alone Around the World – Joshua Slocum

Joshua Slocum’s  Sailing Alone Around the World  is a really interesting account of the first solo-circumnavigation. It would be an interesting account even if it were written today but is especially so due to the fact that the events he recounts take place prior to the 20th century.

In many ways, Slocum was the first cruiser and the trouble he gets himself into, the people he meets, and the places he goes are things to which we can all relate.

3. A World of My Own – Robin Knox-Johnston

Robin Knox-Johnston’s account of his non-stop solo-circumnavigation of the world. He presents a vivid and  vulnerable portrait of a sailor attempting to accomplish what most thought impossible.

It’s a testament to the ability of the human mind to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and heartening for fellow sailors who will encounter situations that put their own courage to the test. It’s a great read and details one of the most incredible feats of the modern era.

4. Dove – Robin Lee Graham

Dove is a book for those who dream of sailing around the world.

In 1965, 16-year-old Robin Lee Graham set off from California in 24-footer on a solo round-the-world voyage. After 5 years and 33,000 miles, he returns with a wife and daughter. His adventures in between are recounted in this best-selling book.

5. Gipsy Moth Circles The World – Francis Chichester

In August 1966, Francis Chichester set out from Plymouth on his 53-foot ketch “Gypsy Moth VI”. He would become the first person to make a one-stop round the world circumnavigation.

Chichester’s journey set records, earned him a knighthood, and fueled the ambition of the next generation of sailors, to become the first to sail around the world non-stop in the 1968 Golden Globe Race.

6. Maiden Voyage – Tania Aebi with Bernadette Brennan

At 18 years old, Tania Aebi was going nowhere, until her father presented her with an ultimatum: she could go to college or get a boat. She chose the latter and for the next two and a half years and 27,000 miles, she sailed the world with only her cat as a companion.

Sailing adventure books

7. an island to oneself – tom neale.

New Zealander, Tom Neale travels to Suwarrow, a remote South Pacific atoll, and spends 16 years living alone and off the land. If you’ve ever fantasized about living on a remote South Pacific Island, this book is for you.

8. Sailing & Mountain Exploration Books  – H.W. Tilman

Considered one of the greatest adventurers of our time, Tilman has sailed and climbed in some of the world’s most remote and environments. His sailing books are must-reads for those who dream of straying from the beaten path and sailing in high-latitudes.

9. Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft – Thor Heyerdahl

Kon-Tiki was the first book about sailing that I ever read.  And really it is more about adventuring than sailing. The sheer foolhardiness of building a balsa wood raft and sailing it 4000 miles from Peru to Tahiti is enough to pique the interest of any adventurous soul.

It’s fascinating to read the various ways that the four men on the raft handled the, at times, boring, stressful, exciting, and survival situations in which they were placed.

Sailing thriller books

10. and the sea will tell – vincent bugliosi.

In this terrifying true story, two couples sail to a remote Pacific atoll, but only one couple makes it off the Island alive. As told by the defense lawyer, Vincent Bugliosi (who also prosecuted Charles Manson), the investigation that follows is a riveting true-crime murder mystery.

And the Sea Will Tell reconstructs the events and recounts the trial that follows. The first half of the book is a real page-turner. The second half delves into technical aspects of the court case which makes for a less compelling read (unless perhaps you’re a lawyer!).

11. The Perfect Storm – Sebastian Junger

A real-life thriller, this book is likely to scare you out of ever leaving land, but it will also give you an appreciation of the sheer power of weather in the Atlantic Ocean.

Junger tells the story of the Perfect Storm, a record topping storm that hit the east coast of North America in the fall of 1991. It follows the accounts of the crews of the fishing boat, a sailboat, and the U.S. Coast Guard as they battle to survive the severe conditions.

12. Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea – Steven Callahan

A staggering survival story written by Steven Callahan about 76 days spent in a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean.

Only six days out, Callahan’s small sloop capsizes and he’s left battling for survival in an inflatable raft. “Adrift” was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than thirty-six weeks when it first came out.

13. Godforsaken Sea – Derek Lundy

Godforsaken Sea  recounts the running of the 1996-97 Vendée Globe. On 3 November 1996, sixteen sailors set out to race around the world single-handed. Only six completed the course. The book explores what compels a sailor to go to sea why the Vendée Globe racers were willing to risk everything.

Sailing and cruising stories

14. the curve of time – m. wylie blanchet.

The story of a single mother in the 1920s with 3 children and a dog, exploring Vancouver Island’s inside passage.

In 1926 Muriel “Capi” Wylie Blanchet, a Vancouver Island resident, tragically lost her husband Geoffrey when he took their 25 ft cabin cruiser “Caprice” out on a solo camping trip and never returned. Rather than sell the boat, she took her three young children and dog on summer sojourns, exploring the pristine BC coast with nothing but her wits to rely on.

She documents her many adventures: piloting through whirlpools, run-ins with bears and cougars, climbing thousand-foot cliffs, and exploring abandoned First Nations villages. Her account is both inspiring and a reminder to slow down, appreciate the beauty of nature, and be present with those you love.

One of the few books to make our list of best sailing books that doesn’t take place on a sailboat!

15. Seraffyn’s European Adventure – Lin and Larry Pardey

Lin and Larry Pardey are living proof that you don’t need to be wealthy to see the world. They traveled for 26 years (covering the equivalent of 5 circumnavigations) in their home-built cutters, Seraffyn and Taleisin.

In Seraffyn’s European Adventure the young couple journey in their 24ft boat to the Baltic, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany. Without engine, electronics, or gadgetry these scrappy sailors accomplish remarkable things through sheer endurance and resourcefulness.

Their stories are as salty as it gets and their message is freedom: “Go small, go simple, go now.”

16. The Log from the Sea of Cortez – John Steinbeck

An account of the six-week scientific expedition made by John Steinbeck in 1940 with marine biologist Ed Ricketts, collecting marine specimens as they travel through the Sea of Cortez.

The book recounts bizarre sea creatures, funny anecdotes about the eccentric crew, and Steinbeck/Ricketts’ life philosophies. A good read if you’re planning to visit Mexico.

17. The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float – Farley Mowat

If you’ve ever cursed your boat, you’ll sympathize with the exasperated (but ever hopeful) Mowat in “The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float”.

Seeking adventure, Mowat hopes to buy a boat , a proud and seaworthy vessel, and roam the seven seas. Instead, he gets the worst boat ever and nearly goes mad trying to keep it from sinking.

18. Passage to Juneau – Jonathan Raban

Raban sails from Seattle to Juneau in a small boat, deftly describing the history of First Nations, Captain Vancouver, and life at sea as he travels up the coast.

More than just a travelogue, Raban recounts personal challenges: his relationship with his father, and being a good dad to his young daughter Julia. The Pacific Northwest history is absolutely fascinating and Raban is a deep and thoughtful soul who you can’t help but empathize with.

19. The Incredible Voyage – Tristan Jones

With wit and style, Tristan Jones tells the story of his 6-year voyage where he sailed a distance equal to twice the circumference of the world. His adventures include capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope, starving in the Amazon, and dodging snipers on the Red Sea.

20. Looking for a Ship – John McPhee

John McPhee, considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction, recounts a 42-day journey from Charleston down the Pacific coast of South America on one of the last American merchant ships, the S.S. Stella Lykes.

21. My Old Man and the Sea – David Hays, Daniel Hays

An account of an ambitious father-son project: build a boat and take on Cape Horn. With nothing more than a compass, sextant, and pet cat, the father and son duo are tested on an incredible voyage. Told in alternating sections by father and son.

Best Nautical Novels

22. Moby Dick – Herman Melville

No list of classic sailing novels would be complete without Moby Dick.

The story follows a whaler captain’s quest for revenge against the giant sperm whale, Moby Dick. Written by Herman Melville in 1851, it’s considered one of the “Great American Novels”.

23. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

24. Master and Commander – Patrick O’Brian

Published in 1969, this nautical novel was the start of a 20-book series. Set at the turn of the 19th century, the story follows a young Jack Aubrey, who has recently been promoted to the rank of Master and Commander.

Sailing logbook

25. Sailing logbook

The best sailing stories are the ones you create!  Pick up one of these hardcover logbooks to record your nautical travels.

Looking for more great sailing stories? Check out our posts on sailing vlogs and sailing podcasts .

Do you have any suggestions for other inspirational sailing books? We’d love to get your recommendations – please leave them in the comment box below.

Fiona McGlynn is an award-winning boating writer who created Waterborne as a place to learn about living aboard and traveling the world by sailboat. She has written for boating magazines including BoatUS, SAIL, Cruising World, and Good Old Boat. She’s also a contributing editor at Good Old Boat and BoatUS Magazine. In 2017, Fiona and her husband completed a 3-year, 13,000-mile voyage from Vancouver to Mexico to Australia on their 35-foot sailboat.

Monday 1st of April 2019

Hi there! Great post, but my all time favorite is “South Sea Vagabonds” by John Wray!

Niah Vaughan

Saturday 16th of March 2019

The Loneliest Race by Paul Gelder. Is a must read.

Wednesday 27th of March 2019

Thanks Niah. I've been thinking about writing a post on sailing race books - there are some many good ones!

Michael Robertson

Friday 15th of March 2019

Overlooked on this list and many others is the great "The Water in Between" by Kevin Patterson.

Yes indeed - that's a great recommendation.

Jean Baillargeon

Hi Fiona n Robin, Hope you’re not missing the heat of the SP too too much. If I may suggest a few more books for your great list.

Anything by Moitessier of course, specially «Vagabond des mers du Sud» (telling of his learning to sail in Vietnam as a young man), and «Tamata et l’Alliance», (his last book written during his years living in French Polynesia) Quick english titles list here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=moitessier+bernard&crid=DQW3GY4NSYPS&sprefix=Moitessier%2Caps%2C446&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10

Anything about Éric Tabarly, there are one or two bios and he wrote one account of his winning the BOAC. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tabarly&crid=C9Q57RE444SF&sprefix=Tabarly%2Caps%2C872&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_5

And my welsh mother in law would be very disappointed in me if I did not recommend Tristan Jones’ books. His are tall tales that sometimes strech believability, but they sure a great read. Typical welsh storyteller with a knack for spinning a good yarn with priceless tongue in cheek humour. Also of interest to handicapped sailors, Jones lost a leg to diabetes on one of his crossings, but kept sailing for many years afterwards. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tristan+jones+books&crid=11M2GS14E6MD4&sprefix=tristan+jones%2Caps%2C1327&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_13

These are great! Thank you Jean. Hope you're finding lots of time for reading on the boat in paradise :)

Darlene Kristi

You did miss a riveting true story, which won the National Outdoor Book Award for best book of the year! Journey of A Hope Merchant - from Apartheid to the Elite World of Solo Yacht Racing. by Neal Petersen

Wow this sounds fascinating! We'll check it out. Thanks Darlene.

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Best Sailing Books

Set sail on a literary voyage with these top sailing books, featuring narratives full of adventure, technical know-how, and the allure of the sea. they have been charted based on their recommendations by seasoned sailors and leading nautical publications..

SailingEurope Blog - Sailing, Yacht Charter and Beyond

From Novice to Navigator: Top 15 Sailing Books for Every Enthusiast

Few things capture the imagination like the open sea, where each wave holds the promise of an adventure. For sailing enthusiasts, there’s nothing better than diving into sailing books that bring these oceanic journeys to life. Whether you are navigating your own vessel or dreaming from the shore, the right book can transport you to distant waters, stormy seas, and exotic ports. From thrilling adventures to historical accounts, there’s a sailing book out there to suit every taste. After checking out our list of the best sailing movies , join us again as we explore our updated list of the Top 15 Sailing Books that will keep you entertained and inspired while you’re out on the water in 2024. Ready to set sail? Let’s dive in!

List of the Top 15 Sailing Books:

15. Love With a Chance of Drowning

A true story about a girl who overcomes her fear of water and sets sail for the first time with a dream-chasing guy. It delves into their journey of love and self-discovery. With no prior sailing experience , the protagonist’s tale offers a refreshing perspective on sailing. It’s a reminder that embracing adventure outside our comfort zone can lead to life’s most fulfilling experiences. The author’s skilful storytelling draws readers into the sights and sounds of the South Pacific Islands, inspiring them to embark on their own heartfelt journeys, just like the protagonist. So pack your bags and follow your heart just like Torre did.

Author: Torre DeRoche

14. circle of bones.

The author, who was raised in Southern California, developed a love for beaches and boating at an early age. After the success of her Seychelle Sullivan book series, she started a new series focusing on international thrillers. This marks her first book of the Shipwreck Adventures series. In this adventure, the author takes us on a journey to search for the wreck of a submarine sunk in World War II. The protagonist is Maggie Riley, a female ex-Marine who sails her 40-footer into the Caribbean. This unique and evocative adventure, set in exotic locations, provides an immersive escape through exceptional storytelling. If you’re looking for an original mystery, this is the book for you.

Author: Christine Kling

13. three ways to capsize a boat.

“By putting your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” This seems to be the author’s mindset when he took on a job he knew nothing about. Although reading this book might not increase your knowledge of sailing, it can enhance your appreciation for the many adventures encountered while sailing. The book recounts the author’s memoirs of the events that unfolded after he agreed to captain his friend’s boat in the Mediterranean without any prior sailing experience. The author’s humour and the amusing situations he found himself in are bound to leave you speechless and, most certainly, make you laugh. At times, you might even find yourself questioning what kind of person would take such daring actions as described in this book. Fortunately, the author survived all his journeys and narrates the story in the first person.

Author: Chris Stewart

12. adrift: seventy-six days lost at sea.

Most of you have probably heard of an incredible and extremely life-threatening situation world-famous, experienced sailor, Steve Callahan , endured. It’s no surprise that his story of survival a 76-day-long battle for life on an inflatable raft became a best-selling book and a thrilling movie we, like many others, have already written about. So are you more a book lover or a movie enthusiast? If you haven’t already read a book and/or seen the movie, make sure you do as you won’t regret it.

Author: Steve Callahan

11. red sky in mourning.

Your life can change in a minute so live each day to the fullest! This is what we often think or hear from others when we are faced with a change or a problem in our lives. But can we really be aware of how things can actually go wrong until we experience it first-hand? A 41-year-old, after sailing right into a terrible storm , woke up to find out her fiance was gone and the land was nowhere in sight. This is an incredible story of endurance and her physical and mental strength. Moreover, it is an authentic example of how a paradise can easily turn into a living hell. However, it also serves as a reminder to cherish every single moment and that our life is worth fighting for.

Author: Tami Oldham Ashcraft

10. The Lonely Sea and the Sky

The Lonely Sea and the Sky is the complete autobiography of Sir Francis Chichester, the first and the fastest man to singlehandedly circumnavigate the globe . When he was 18, Chichester emigrated to New Zealand to work as a shepherd, lumberjack, and gold prospector. Soon he qualified as a pilot and started his most famous solo flight from England to Australia. Despite having been diagnosed with cancer, Chichester became the first person to sail around the world solo from west to east via the Great Capes. Our list of Top 10 sailing books couldn’t be complete without this great book.

Author: Francis Chichester

9. The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

Since the publication of the widely hailed first edition in 1983, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship has set the standard by which a sailing book is measured. Used throughout America as a textbook in sailing schools and Power Squadrons, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship thoroughly and clearly covers the fundamentals and advanced skills of modern sailing. Over half the book has been revised; old topics and features have been updated, and many new ones have been introduced. What’s more, the design has been modernized, and many colour illustrations have been added. As big and detailed as Annapolis is, the wealth of technical information (including dozens of step-by-step instructions) is presented here in a unique way; it’s both useful and easy to read. This is because John Rousmaniere and artist Mark Smith brought decades of experience to Annapolis as sailors and professional communicators.

Author: John Rousmaniere

8. Leap of Faith

How many of us have dreamt of selling everything we own and just going sail around the world? Well, this couple did exactly that! This sailing book tells a story about ultimate freedom and can be a really helpful guide if you ever make that decision. The book includes tales from the couple’s travels, places they had visited, rich social commentary and a financial plan that some of you might find useful. If you want to find out what’s it like to live in paradise, this sailing book is for you.

Author: Ed Robinson

7. Left for Dead

When Nick Ward was asked to join the crew of the Grimalkin to sail in the Fastnet Race, he felt like all his dreams came true. This 600-mile course of the UK’s Fastnet Race started with perfect weather, but within two days the deadliest storm in the history of modern sailing had blasted through the Irish Sea. This storm took the lives of fifteen sailors. Nick Ward was left alone on his boat to face down a storm that has become legendary among sailors and racing fans. Left for Dead is one of those stories that deserves to be on our list of best sailing books.

Author: Nick Ward

6. The Curve of Time

This book is a true story of a single mother who became a widow in 1927 and packed her five children onto a sailboat to explore, summer after summer, the coastal waters of British Columbia. Her husband went on a solo camping trip and never returned. She decided not to sell their boat and went on a summer trip with the rest of her family. She was a navigator, skipper and engineer leading her crew/family through some bad storms, tides, and cougars and showing her children how to love and respect nature.

Author: M. Wylie Blanchet

5. Godforsaken Sea

Godforsaken Sea is a book about the 16 solo sailboat racers of The Vendee Globe race . This solo race is famous for taking sailing to another level and it took part across the Southern Ocean. It is pretty obvious that those 16 competitors are not „holiday sailors“ – they have been preparing for this race for months and they even hired some sleep specialists to achieve better results. Godforsaken Sea is a great adventure book that definitely deserves to be on our list of top 10 sailing books.

Author: Derek Lundy

4. Once Is Enough

This timeless classic is an exciting true story of survival against all odds. Miles Smeeton and his wife Beryl sailed their 46-ft Bermuda ketch, Tzu Hang, in the wild seas of Cape Horn, following the tracks of the old sailing clippers through the world’s most notorious waters. This is an exciting true story of survival against all odds, but it is also one of the most thoughtful sailing books which provides hard-learned lessons for other intrepid sailors.

Author: Miles Smeeton

3. The Long Way

The Long Way is Bernard Moitessier ‘s own incredible story of his participation in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. For seven months, the veteran seafarer battled storms, doldrums, gear failures, knock-downs, as well as overwhelming fatigue and loneliness. Then, nearing the finish, Moitessier pulled out of the race and sailed on for another three months before ending his 37,455-mile journey in Tahiti. Not once had he touched land and he explains his whole story in one of the most amazing sailing books ever.

Author: Bernard Moitessier

2. Maiden Voyage

Challenged by her German-Swiss father, an 18-year-old New York City bicycle messenger in 1988 became the first American woman, and the youngest person, to sail alone around the world. In this jaunty account of her journey, she veers between the perils of solo sailing, her relationships with her separated parents and the death of her mysterious mother. Aebi, writing with freelancer Brennan, reveals her lack of sailing knowledge and experience, describes the heavy seas and weather she endured, her numerous problems with malfunctioning equipment, the countries, people and cats she encountered and a sympathetic French-Swiss whose boat sometimes accompanied her own. The story is so compelling that sailing enthusiasts will read avidly on to the triumphant finish.

Author: Tania Aebi

1. Sailing Alone Around the World

This sailing memoir was written by a seaman and an adventurer Joshua Slocum, who was the first person to sail around the world alone and documents his epic solo circumnavigation. An international best-seller, the book became a great influence and inspiration to travellers from each corner of the globe. Additionally, Slocum is an example that through determination, courage and hard work any dream can easily become a reality. Apart from being an exceptional mariner, Slocum is an equally talented narrator, as he depicts events which are not only entertaining to read but also hold great historical and cultural significance considering the time of his journey. Well written and engaging to the very last page, Sailing Alone Around the World is one of the best sailing books ever written.

Author: Joshua Slocum

4 thoughts on “From Novice to Navigator: Top 15 Sailing Books for Every Enthusiast”

Ernest Hemingway “The Old Man and the Sea”

One of the best works about the sea and the search for harmony with the world around. For this small story, the author’s was not only honored the Pulitzer Prize in 1953, but a year later received the Nobel Prize. The story is significantly different from other works of the master – it is philosophical, simple, slow, and at the same time incredibly tense.

Calm and storm, good luck and defeat, happiness and grief – all this old fisherman Santiago saw more than once, but at the end of his days, fate prepared him for a new trial. He faces a grueling battle with a giant fish, from which there are only two outcomes – victory or death.

You can not put a sink to your ear, the smell and sound of the sea will be felt while reading this story.

Hi, Handykith. We agree. “The Old Man and the Sea” is definitely one of the best works about the sea.

The old man and the sea is great fiction but not sure it compares with The Long Way or some of the other non fiction books about solo sailing. Not sure Papa Hemingway was much of a solo Sailer, but then I guess Jack London wrote some great stories about adventure in Alaska/ Northwest Territories without ever leaving San Francisco…

4. Once is enough – Miles Smeeton All of the Smeeton books are fantastic bur that YouTube video of Tzu Jang is not Miles and Beryl’s yacht but a racing yacht of the same name. Here is a picture of the real yacht: https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/cruising-life/beryl-and-miles-smeeton-high-endeavours-81598

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Hey, I'm Reading

Your friendly site for all fun things books, 25 awesome books about sailing around the world.

• by Megan Johnson
• Posted on March 2, 2022 May 17, 2022

There are affiliate links in here.  I get a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you

I am not a water person. I have very little desire to actually sail around the world. But when I read these books about sailing around the world, I briefly think it would be really cool to do.

But it’s certainly not something I’m striving to do anytime soon, if ever. I’ll stick to the sailing books instead for now and today I’m going to share some of them with you!

There aren’t any how to sail books on here, just books about sailing around the world and a few sailing survival stories, both topics I love reading about.

I’ve actually read a few of these and have quite a few of the others on my TBR and wishlist . I’m sure I’ll want to read even more by the time I’m done with this post.

• If you want to listen to some of these, consider  trying Audible ! You can get your first month free (one free book) plus tons of others they have for free.  Get that Audible deal here.
• If you’re on more of a budget, try Everand (formerly Scribd)! You can get 60 days free there with my link! You can read books and listen to audiobooks. It is unlimited (especially the reading) but if you listen to tons of new audiobooks you may be restricted after a few. I haven’t encountered this yet, but I do use Everand myself and like it a lot. Get 60 days free here!
• Shop my collection of bookish goodies on Etsy ! These aren’t my shop items, but other shops I’ve curated into a book-themed collection. Shop my Etsy bookish goodies here!
• If you want to read more on your Kindle but don’t want to buy books, Kindle Unlimited is a good option. If you read a lot and like to read more than just new releases (especially romance), it could be worth it. Get Kindle Unlimited here !
• Get $5 off of $25 from BookOutlet! This is a great place to find new books for pretty cheap. They also have sales quite a bit, so keep an eye out for those. I tend to check here for books I want if they’re more expensive other places. They don’t have everything but they do have a lot. Shop BookOutlet here!
• Thrift Books has become my go-to when I’m looking for a book and want it cheap. It’s great if you like buying used books. With this you can get a free book after spending $30!
• Shop my book lists here! You can find every book list I have on Bookshop.org (except my monthly round-ups) and I add everything I can but they occasionally won’t have some. I do occasionally add extras though. If any lists are empty, they’ll be filled in shortly! Shop my bookshop.org book lists here .

Love with a Chance of Drowning

Torre isn’t looking for love when she meets a soulful Argentinian man in San Diego. But he’s about to set sail around the world on his small sailboat. Lovesick, she decides to join him on this terrifying and life-changing journey through deep waters. Somewhere mid-pacific, she’s finding it hard to keep everything afloat.

I read this one last year and it was definitely interesting! It’s not like, 10/10 for me but I did enjoy it, especially from the perspective of someone that just sort of decided to sail across the world on a whim.

All the Colours of Polynesia

This is another one I have and can’t wait to read! My South Pacific and sailing book list is quite long now.

This is the three-year journey across French Polynesia on a sailboat, from Bora Bora to the Tuamotus. We get to experience the ups and downs of life on a sailboat along with Jasna, meeting heavily tattooed men, sailing under the stars, and diving with sharks and dolphins.

Maiden Voyage

This one landed on my TBR after reading Adrift: 76 Days at Sea (mentioned below) and it sounds so good!

Tania was eighteen, living in New York with no big plans. But then her father gave her a choice: a college education or a twenty-six-foot sloop. She chose the boat with the caveat of having to sail it around the world. Alone.

It was her home for the next two years and 27,000 miles with just her cat as a companion. What started as just an adventure became a spiritual quest.

The Long Way

This is Bernard’s own story of his experience in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn.

He battled storms, doldrums, fatigue, loneliness, and more over the next seven months. Near the end of the race, he pulled out and sailed on for three more months, ending in Tahiti 37,455 miles later, not touching land once.

Escape from the Ordinary

When Glen and Julie followed their dream, they found reality could be bigger than imagined. Here, we get to hear about the terrors and pleasures of living on a sailboat from the North Atlantic to French Polynesia where even simple decisions can have major consequences.

This is perfect for anyone looking for a true-story sailing book, whether you want to sail or not.

The Perfect Storm

It was the storm of the century with waves over 100 feet high formed by a combination of factors that deemed it the perfect storm.

This is the stories of the lives of people touched by the storm. This is non-fiction and it’s actually a movie, too!

I would like to read this one. I remember my mom watching the movie when I was little and she made me leave the room for one part of it because it was too scary, I guess.

Close to the Wind: An Extraordinary Story of Triumph Over Adversit y

In 1996, Pete Goss set off on the most grueling race in his sailing career, the Vendee Globe, a non-stop, single-handed yacht race around the world.

He met every challenge over the next seven weeks before everything started to go wrong. Then, on Christmas day, his radio picked up a Mayday of a sinking French competitor 160 miles away. He turned into the hurricane force winds to rescue a near-dead man on a life raft and this is the story of how that all came to be.

I wasn’t sure about this as I added it to the list but it sounds really interesting!

Adrift: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea

I watched this movie over the winter and now I really want to read the book. This is a crazy survival story (a true survival story) and while most of it isn’t actively sailing, it’s still definitely a sailing book.

Tami and her fiance Richard have their whole lives ahead of themselves when they set sail from Tahiti to San Diego.

Less than two weeks into their voyage, though, they sail directly into one of the worst hurricanes recorded in history. Richard ties himself to the boat and sends Tami to safety below. Hours later, all is quiet and she’s awakened to find the boat in ruins and Richard nowhere in sight.

This is the miraculous story of her forty-one days alone with no mast or sails and little hope of rescue.

The Incredible Voyage

This is Tristan Jones’s six-year voyage alone on his small boat, The Sea Dart ranging from the Dead Sea to Lake Titicaca, covering a distance more than twice the circumference of the globe.

He refuses to let any disasters he faced get in his way including hauling his boat over the Andes, facing the current of the mighty Amazon , and capsizing off the Cape of Good Hope.

This one sounds like a combination of a sailing adventure book and a trekking adventure book.

An Embarrassment of Mangos

This is the story of two driven Canadians desperate for a break from their professional lives who quit their jobs and moved onto a 42-foot sailboat. They set sail for a two-year journey through the Caribbean where they dropped anchor in 16 countries, on 47 islands, exploring secluded beaches and local markets.

If you want a sailing book to have you dreaming of dropping everything to live on a boat, this is probably the one for you.

A Sail of Two Idiots: 100+ Lessons and Laughs from a Non-Sailor Who Quit the Rat Race, Took the Helm, and Sailed to a New Life in the Caribbean

Renee and Michael had no boating experience and had to learn everything the hard way. They managed to make it from Miami to Grenada, dropping anchor at the island of their dreams.

If you’re curious about sailing around the world, or living on a sailboat at all, this is perfect for you! It’s part lessons learned, part adventure.

Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea

This is a firsthand account of Steven Callahan’s seventy-six days adrift in his inflatable raft when his sailboat capsized just six days in.

I read this one over the summer and it was pretty interesting! It had some slow moments, but it’s definitely worth reading.

This is a true story about 16-year old Robin sailing around the world alone on a 24-foot sloop over five years. 33,000 miles later, he returns home to California with a wife, a daughter, and enough stories to fill a book. This book.

Off The Grid: How I quit the rat race and live for free aboard a sailboat

Mark went from working 60 hours a week to living off the grid on a 39-foot sailboat, usually on the move or anchored in the water.

He was able to clear up debts and free his spirit while meeting a colorful cast of characters along the way. Now he is sharing the stories here along with how to make this happen for yourself.

An Island to Oneself

Tom Neale was a New Zealander bushcraft and survival enthusiast who spent 16 years in three stints living along on the island of Anchorage in the Swarrow atoll in the Cook Islands and these are his stories.

Plunge: One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary

When Lisebet trades the life she knows for living on a sailboat, she succumbs to seasickness and a growing desire to be alone.

She enjoys the impulsiveness and alternative lifestyle but must face personal storms, US immigration, adverse weather, and doubts about her newfound love.

Eight Men and a Duck: An Improbable Voyage by Reed Boat to Easter Island

Nick heard fellow bus passengers discussing the improbable plan to sail the 2,500 miles from Northern Chile to Easter Island in a boat made of reeds. They wanted to revive the pre-Incan boat building method while having an incredible adventure.

Nick talked his way on board to find himself plagued with uncertainty, especially when the crew was made of a tree surgeon, a jewelry salesman, and two ducks. Where’s the navigator? Does anyone here know how to sail? Where is the life raft?

This is perfect for fans of adventure and sailing books.

And the Sea Will Tell

If you want a book about sailing, a book about murder, and a super long book, look no further.

Alone with her new husband on a tiny Pacific atoll, a young woman finds an aluminum container washed up on shore next to a gold tooth in a scorched human skull.

The rest of the story is a complex and puzzling true-crime mystery that only Vincent Bugliosi was able to draw together with hundreds of conflicting details of what happened when four people found hell in a tropical paradise.

I don’t love long books but I might have to give this one a shot someday!

The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float

Farley left Toronto for Newfoundland where he heard boats looking for buyers are as common as cod. He doesn’t realize the ship he purchased half-drunk in the middle of the night requires every nautical repair known to man.

The Happy Adventure sank regularly, leaked like a sieve, and had a working engine only on occasion. These are their stories from the Newfoundland coast to Lake Ontario and everything they encountered along the way.

Sailing to the Edge of Time: The Promise, the Challenges, and the Freedom of Ocean Voyaging

John is a practical sailing philosopher with hundreds of thousands of nautical miles under his belt. The narrative of his adventures around the world, from Belize to Yemen, are interwoven with practical tips and hard-earned insights of how to make the most of our lives.

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

Here is another sailing survival story but in 1864. Captain Thomas Musgrave wrecked on a forbidding piece of land 285 miles south of New Zealand.

On the opposite side of the island, at the same time, another ship ran aground in a storm. The two crews face the same fate with twenty miles of treacherous and impassable cliffs between them.

One crew turns on itself and to cannibalism while the other bands together to build a cabin and find a way to escape.

I don’t usually like this-far-back historical survival/exploration stories but this one sounds really interesting. It was pieced together with historical records and survivor’s journals.

A World of My Own: The First-Ever Non-Stop Round the World Voyage

This is the story of Robin’s sailing journey, the first-ever non-stop, single-handed sail around the world.

This one is probably interesting and sounds like a classic sailing book, but I just can’t with the description on Amazon. It’s a lot of words but really doesn’t tell me what this is about.

Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World’s Most Dangerous Waters

On November 3, 1996, sixteen sailors set out from the Bay of Biscay on the Vendee Globe Race (mentioned above) through some of the most treacherous and isolated waters on Earth.

Six completed the course, six withdrew or were disqualified, three were pulled from sinking boats, and one disappeared without a trace.

Sailing Alone Around the World

Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world (I feel like I’ve written that like, ten times in this post). Along the way he was introduced to many dignitaries.

Honestly, this description is like, ten miles long and tells me even less about the book than the one above, but if you like books about sailing around the world and historical accounts, this could be good for you.

One Girl One Dream

Here we have another first, this is the youngest sailor to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe. Not only did she face the seas on her own, but also doubts and hostile resistance from officials.

This is her story of what it was like sailing around the world alone. This one sounds pretty good and it’s only $0.99 on Kindle so I think I’ll give it a shot!

Have you read any of these books about sailing around the world? Which ones? Are there any other sailing books I should check out?

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Author: Megan Johnson

I'm Megan, a cheesehead at heart currently residing in the Sunshine State. You can probably find me reading, watching Forensic Files, or both. View all posts by Megan Johnson

Many, many years ago I read a couple of books (two volumes) from an author and I would like to find those books again, but they were borrowed. All I remember is the author was in Europe and sometime after WWII bought a Coast Guard type rescue boat and rebuilt it into a sailing vessel. I remember he sailed up by Greenland in the late fall, became stuck in the ice during the winter, had problems with a polar bear and found help with some natives. I don’t know if he sailed around the world, but he probably did. He somehow got his boat to Lake Titicaca in South America and later sailed up the Amazon with help from a younger lad. They both barely made it back down the river with numerous medical problems. I believe in later years he received help and acknowledgement from a major sailing club. If you have any idea of the author or book titles would you please let me know who he was.

Ohh that sounds very interesting! I’ll do my best to find it and report back!

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Books for sailors: our pick of the best new releases

• Julia Jones
• April 21, 2022

Yachting Monthly literary contributor Julia Jones reviews all the latest new releases to pick the best books for sailors this summer

Credit: Getty

Looking for inspiration for your holiday reading list?

From solo sailing adventures to practical seamanship , here are the best books for sailors to read over the summer.

The Temptress Voyages

Edward Allcard’s first two books Single-Handed Voyage (1950) and Temptress Returns (1951) chronicle his pioneering voyages both ways across the Atlantic .

He bought the elderly 34’ yawl Temptress as an antidote to postwar malaise, then set out to put himself and his yacht to the test.

He began his 81-day single-handed crossing to New York in May 1949, spending hours at the tiller or hove-to.

This arduous existence represented freedom.

He felt regret as well as triumph when he reached America, then regret when he was eventually obliged to leave.

The return voyage almost cost his life but later, when he was joined by Otilia the stowaway, he also discovered friendship.

These two volumes of struggle and self-discovery are classics of their time.

The Temptress Voyages by Edward Allcard, Lodestar, £12

Buy The Temptress Voyages at Amazon (UK)

Buy The Temptress Voyages at Foyles (UK)

Old Man Sailing

Old Man Sailing has become a word-of-mouth bestseller among sailing titles.

In March 2020 John Passmore was content on his Rival 32 Samsara , the wrong side of the Lowestoft Harbour bridge.

Three months lockdown was imminent. He shifted his berth within the hour.

Then, after some careful provisioning he moved to the Walton Backwaters to complete preparations, observe quarantine and pick a weather window before leaving for the Azores northabout Shetland.

When he returned, six weeks and 3,629 miles later, his action had caught the public imagination.

Passmore, a former journalist, is an accomplished writer able to shape his anecdotes and remain wryly entertaining as well as thought-provoking throughout.

These qualities will ensure Old Man Sailing continues to be read long after lockdown has faded from memory.

Old Man Sailing by John Passmore, Samsara Press, £10.24

Buy Old Man Sailing at Amazon (UK)

Buy Old Man Sailing at Amazon (US)

Buy Old Man Sailing at Audible

Addicted to More Adventure

A new collection of Bob Shepton’s adventures is an immediate pleasure.

Perhaps, as he’s a chaplain by trade, it’s not surprising that there is also a message: ‘Risk is good, enjoy it’.

Ellen Massey Leonard’s afterword spells out the essential connection between risk and joy. ‘Bob has found joy throughout his life in climbing unclimbed cliffs […] and in reaching some of the world’s most remote wildernesses under sail.’

In many of the voyages described here his role is to help others achieve similar experiences.

As well as leading a west-east return through the North-West passage, he acts as a delivery skipper and a sailing master and conveys other, younger, mountaineers to make those thrilling first ascents that are now beyond his reach.

Addicted to More Adventure by Bob Shepton, Amazon, £15

Buy Addicted to More Adventure at Amazon (UK)

Buy Addicted to More Adventure at Amazon (US)

Buy Addicted to More Adventure at Waterstones (UK)

A River in Borneo

Richard Woodman insists that this is his last novel and it’s one of his best, which is why it has been included in our books for sailors list.

A River in Borneo is set in the Malaysian and Indonesian waters he explored as a junior officer in the 1960s Merchant Navy.

The sailing scenes are pure delight as Captain Harry Kirton handles his elderly brigantine as if she were a yacht.

The central action is set in the mid 19th century and Kirton must learn to navigate the sensitivities of different ethnic groups within his crew with the same skill that he negotiates the intricate island passages between the Sulu and Celebes Seas.

Moulded by pain, Kirton is one of Woodman’s most psychologically interesting characters. If this is Woodman’s swansong, it’s a good way to go.

A River in Borneo by Richard Woodman, McBooks Press, £21.95

Buy A River in Borneo at Amazon (UK)

Buy A River in Borneo at Amazon (US)

Buy A River in Borneo at Waterstones (UK)

The Sea is not made of Water

This is a book with the wow factor.

It’s an astonishingly wide-ranging tour-de-force which finally reaches the assertion that the sea ‘is a world to come alongside, to be-with in ways that go beyond the predatory’.

Whilst most sailors will have little trouble with this concept, Nicolson works his way towards it from a coast-based perspective.

Although he does sail out towards Lismore Lighthouse in the Sound of Mull, in a 16ft wooden lugger, his interest is in observation of the inter-tidal rocks, weeds, creatures and legends.

Writing on tides he highlights the Newtonian theory that what we experience is not the sea being pulled about the surface of the earth, but the turning of the earth under the surface covering of the sea – a concept both awe-inspiring and giddying.

The Sea is not made of Water by Adam Nicolson, Harper Collins, £20

Buy The Sea is not made of Water at Amazon (UK)

Buy The Sea is not made of Water at Amazon (US)

Buy The Sea is not made of Water at Waterstones (UK)

Buy The Sea is not made of Water at Audible

Continues below…

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The Five Year Voyage: Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers

When the wanderlust returned he had a partner, Ginny, equally eager for adventure, so adapted a slightly larger boat.

Thurston was an adapted Sea Pearl 21, a two-masted trailersailer , drawing only 9 inches.

They added a cabin top, drinking water ballast, stowage and a sliding seat rowing system.

Two years later, having travelled from Florida to Panama, they added a Honda 2hp outboard.

This enabled them to spend a further three years exploring the coastline and great rivers of South America as far as Buenos Aires.

On the way they married and had a baby.

This is an intensely impressive small boat voyage. It’s also grippingly readable.

The Five-Year Voyage : Exploring Latin American Coasts and Rivers by Stephen Ladd, Seekers Press, £15.99

Buy The Five Year Voyage at Amazon (UK)

Buy The Five Year Voyage at Amazon (US)

Essential Boat Electronics

Electrics are the ‘number 1 problem on any boat’ states the blurb.

While some may wish to challenge this, the fact remains that recent decades have seen an unprecedented increase in the complexity of systems on even the most modest cruising yacht.

Often these systems have been overlaid on one another as new needs have been identified or earlier installations found inadequate.

This useful guide avoids too much theory but encourages better organisation and an understanding of personal priorities.

Even those of us who are privately determined to use professionals wherever possible, it would be well advised to read this book and keep it on board, for the moments when self-reliance is unavoidable.

This is not a problem that’s set to go away.

Essential Boat Electronics 3rd edition by Oliver Ballam and Pat Manley, Fernhurst Books, £16.99

Buy Essential Boat Electronics at Amazon (UK)

Buy Essential Boat Electronics at Amazon (US)

The Shetland Sea Murders

The Shetland Sea Murders is the 9th book in an established series featuring sailor Cas Lynch, but can be read as a standalone thriller.

The story starts will Lynch running her last charter of the season, which is disrupted by a VHF radio call from the Shetland coastguard.

What follows is two apparently unrelated murders, and soon Lynch herself is under threat.

Fans of Ann Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series will throughly enjoy the plot’s twists and turns.

It will certainly keep you entertained!

Buy The Shetland Sea Murders at Amazon (UK )

Buy The Shetland Sea Murders at Amazon (US)

Buy The Shetland Sea Murders at Waterstones

Buy The Shetland Sea Murders at Audible

The Dinghy Cruising Companion

This is the second edition of an important book, and deserves inclusion in our list of books for sailors.

Roger Barnes’s writing recalls Maurice Griffiths’s titles of the 1930s – Magic of the Swatchways and Ten Small Yachts – where the romance of solitude and the challenge of self-reliance took people and their boats to unexpected anchorages, as well as into the warmth of the pub at the end of the day.

Like Griffiths, Barnes writes beautifully but also offers sound, experience-based advice and discusses the qualities of different types of vessel as well as rigs, equipment and modifications.

It’s arguable we would all be better sailors if we reminded ourselves more often of the interplay of wind and waves experienced from inside the hull of a dinghy .

The Dinghy Cruising Companion (2nd edition) by Roger Barnes, Adlard Coles, £16.99

Buy The Dinghy Cruising Companion at Amazon (UK)

Buy The Dinghy Cruising Companion at Amazon (US)

Buy The Dinghy Cruising Companion at Waterstones (UK)

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Visit the Yachting Monthly Book Club for more of the best sailing books released this year.

If you have recommendations for books for sailors – get in touch at [email protected]

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Wind Strategy (Houghton and Campbell): Best Wind Book for Sailors

At SailZing, we’re all about finding better ways to communicate complex concepts so you can become a better sailor. We’ve been reluctant to tackle wind strategy, because every resource we reviewed seemed to be too dense even for us theory buffs. Our reluctance has changed since we found Wind Strategy , by David Houghton and Fiona Campbell.

If you want to invest a modest amount of time to unlock the mysteries of wind and improve your racing strategy, this is the book to get. We’ll dig into this topic further in future posts.

Do We Need to Study the Weather?

It is too easy now to look at a weather app or online forecast and feel like it’s sufficient to base your weather strategy on when racing. I would encourage every racing sailor to not be satisfied with this. Ian Walker, in the forward to Wind Strategy

Plenty of sailors do well enough without knowing much about the weather or wind. Many sailors look at the forecast only for rudimentary information. Yet, top level sailors have learned to use a variety of rules of thumb about the wind. Some sailors even subscribe to location-specific forecasts for big regattas, even on lakes.

How can there be breeze with no ripples on the water? Should I sail towards a cloud? Will the wind be more favorable toward shore? These are questions you might want to be able to answer when racing. Wind Strategy will help you with these and other questions, without overwhelming you.

About the Authors

David Houghton was a passionate sailor and meteorologist. He first wrote Wind Strategy in 1986. He refined the book through three subsequent editions, using his experiences as an advisor to Olympic, America’s Cup, and other high-level sailing teams. For his efforts, he was awarded a British Royal Society prize for increasing the general public’s understanding of meteorology, including groups such as sailors. He passed away in 2015.

Fiona Campbell is also a sailor and meteorologist, and worked alongside David for many years. She took over from David as the U.K. sailing team advisor and co-authored the 2005 and 2016 editions of the book.

What We Like About Wind Strategy

The book covers the same concepts as most books on weather for sailors, but the approach is more straightforward. With only 137 pages and plenty of illustrations and examples, you have a better chance of getting through this book.

For example, in five short pages, you learn about the gradient wind and the effects of drag and stability on the surface wind. In this same short section, you quickly see why the surface wind changes more over land than at sea in a 24-hour period.

The book also helps you apply the concepts, with rules of thumb as well as explicit subsections on tactics in most chapters. Admittedly, some of these are hard to apply, but this will get easier over time as you try to interpret your observations based on the concepts in the book.

Here are some examples of the book’s explanations and/or rules of thumb that you can apply even on lakes.

• Difference in direction between gradient wind and surface wind
• What to expect from “lake breezes” on lakes
• Types of clouds that indicate changes in the wind
• Distance from a shore with obstacles to get the best wind

Disclaimers

Even though Wind Strategy does a good job of explaining wind and applying it to sailing, several disclaimers apply:

• The subject is still complex, and it will take some concentration to get through it.
• Small lakes have fewer rules of thumb. The authors would consider almost all of our inland lakes as small lakes.
• Your own observations are just as important as the forecast. The authors tell us to “never reject either the forecast or [your own] observations. The more you practice putting them together the better your judgement in a race will be.”

Wind Lanes: Accurate Wind Indicators? The Spectrum of the Wind: Higher Performance Sailing Wind Shear and Gradient Effects on Trim & Strategy – dr Laser

Related Posts

Wind Shear and Gradient Effects on Trim & Strategy – drLaser

The Spectrum of the Wind: Higher Performance Sailing

Wind Lanes: Accurate Wind Indicators?

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Best sailing books: 25 tales inspired by the sea

A list of the best sailing books including memoirs, novels and biographies, constituting the most fascinating nautical tales ever penned

After recently compiling a list of the best sailing movies we’ve seen, I was prompted into some related reading. Fresh from a delivery of sailing bestsellers (and less-sellers), I’ve put together a list of the best sailing books.

The list covers everything from epic voyages, tales of survival, investigative biographies and sailing manuals – with a few coffee table reference books thrown in.

Best sailing books

The below list is in no particular order. If you have any suggestions that you feel deserve a place on this list of best sailing books, please add them in the comments below.

Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum

In 1895, Joshua Slocum set out to prove that a man could sail alone around the world. Some 46,000 miles and three years later, he completed the first single-handed circumnavigation of the globe in his 34ft sloop, the Spray.

A Voyage For Madmen by Peter Nichols

In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe non-stop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line.

The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall

One of the best sailing books I’ve ever read. Donald Crowhurst was a contestant in the above round the world race. Hopelessly out of depth, he attempted to pull off one of the greatest hoaxes of our time.

The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby

This was one of the first sailing books I ever read and it got me hooked. In 1939, a young Newby set sail aboard Moshulu, the largest sailing ship still employed in the transportation of grain from Australia to Europe as part of what was known as ‘the grain race’. His story of the passage has become a classic.

Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl

The adventure of Thor Heyerdahl and his companions on their raft across the Pacific has gone down in legend as a feat of endurance and courage. This is that story in Heyerdahl’s own words.

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship by John Rousmaniere

Since the publication of the widely hailed first edition in 1983, this book has set the standard. Used throughout the world as a textbook in sailing schools, the Annapolis Book of Seamanship thoroughly and clearly covers the fundamental and advanced skills of modern sailing.

A Race Too Far by Chris Eakin

Chris Eakin recreates the drama of the epic inaugural Golden Globe race. He talks to all those touched by the event: the survivors, the widows and the children of those who died.

Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan

I’m currently halfway through this gripping tale and it is already one of the best sailing books I’ve read. Steven Callahan’s dramatic account was on the NYT bestseller list for 36 weeks. In many ways, it’s the model for the new wave of adventure books. At the time, he was the only man known to have survived more than a month at sea alone.

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea by Jonathan Franklin

In 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip. After 14 months, he washed ashore having drifted over 9,000 miles.

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian

The first of Patrick O’Brian’s famous Aubrey/Maturin novels, regarded by many as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. There were 20 completed – and one unfinished – in the series set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Gipsy Moth Circles the World by Francis Chichester

First published in 1967, just months after the completion of Chichester’s historic journey, the book was an instant international best-seller. It inspired the first solo around-the-world race and remains a timeless testament to the spirit of adventure.

Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi

Tania Aebi was an unambitious 18-year-old in New York City. She was going nowhere until her father offered her a challenge: choose college or a 26ft sloop. The only catch was that if she chose the sailboat, she’d have to sail around the world alone. Off she went.

DK Complete Sailing Manual by Steve Sleight

DK are renowned for producing beautiful reference books and this sailing manual does not disappoint. Now in its fourth edition, the book covers the basics of sailing, mastering navigation and maintaining your boat.

The Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford W. Ashley

First published in 1944 and reprinted many times since, this magnificent, fully illustrated book of knots is collated by Geoffrey Budworth with the help of other members of the  International Guild of Knot Tyers .

Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening by Liz Clar

Clar chronicles her 2006 solo voyage across the South Pacific in search of great surf. She recounts her story in gripping detail, telling tales of self-awareness, solitude, connection to the earth and surfing.

Once is Enough by Miles Smeeton

This timeless classic is an exciting true story of survival against all odds. Smeeton and his wife sailed their 46ft ketch, Tzu Hang, in the wild seas of Cape Horn, following the tracks of the old sailing clippers through the world’s most notorious waters.

Last Man Off: A True Story of Disaster and Survival on the Antarctic Seas by Matt K. Lewis

The waters of Antarctica, 1998. A 23-year-old Lewis has just started his dream job aboard a deep sea fishing boat. A storm hits. With the captain missing and the crew forced to abandon ship, Lewis leads the escape onto three life rafts, where the battle for survival begins.

A World of My Own: The First Ever Non-stop Solo Round the World Voyage by Robin Knox-Johnston

In1968, a tiny ketch called Suhaili slipped almost unnoticed out of Falmouth. Ten and a half months later, Suhaili came romping joyously back to Falmouth to a fantastic reception for Robin Knox-Johnston who’d become the first man to sail single-handedly around the world non-stop.

The Proving Ground by Bruce Knecht

This is the story of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart boat race, the most dramatic in yacht racing history. Of the 115 boats that started, just 43 would finish. Knecht recreates those dramatic hours and the gut-wrenching fear of those caught in the eye of the storm, battling for their lives.

The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2017-2020 by Royal Yachting Association

The essential manual includes the updated International Code and Race Signal flags. Water-proof editions are also available.

The Long Way (La Longue Route) by Bernard Moitessier

The Long Way is Bernard Moitessier’s own incredible story of his participation in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn.

Left for Dead: 30 Years On – The Race is Finally Over: The Untold Story of the Tragic 1979 Fastnet Race by Nick Ward & Sinead O’Brien

The second edition is updated with a new chapter describing Nick’s eventual completion of the Fastnet Race 30 years after his first, ill-fated attempt.

Love with a Chance of Drowning by Torre DeRoche

This sometimes hilarious, often harrowing, and always poignant memoir is set against a backdrop of the world’s most beautiful and remote destinations. Equal parts love story and travel memoir, the book is witty, charming, and proof that some risks are worth taking.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

A memoir first published in 1840, written shortly after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. To this day, the book is regarded as a valuable historical resource describing 1830s California.

Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World’s Most Dangerous Waters by Derek Lundy

In 1996, 16 sailors set out from the Bay of Biscay to embark on the Vendee Globe – a single-handed yacht race through the world’s most treacherous and isolated seas. Only six completed the course, six others withdrew, three were plucked from sinking boats and one disappeared without a trace.

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Elvstrøm Explains the Racing Rules: 2021-2024 Rules

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The essential guide to the racing rules from one of the sport's greatest champions--understand the rules and understand the winning mentality. "This book is a must-have for any serious racing sailor" – Sir Ben Ainslie, four-time Olympic gold winning sailor Paul Elvstrom is arguably the greatest Olympic sailor of all time. Proving that understanding the rules is crucial to winning, he devised this unique approach to explaining them using bird's-eye diagrams. His detailed explanations are applied to myriad racing situations, each cross-referenced to relevant case studies provided by World Sailing (formerly ISAF). Included with the book are a set of plastic boats, for use during protest hearings. They are transparent but coloured differently so can also be used with an overhead projector. This edition is completely revised to cover the new rules issued for 2021–24. It includes the full text of the latest rules, with a handy quick-reference guide highlighting the latest changes. There is also a confidence-building section on how to present your case in a protest, and the back cover shows the signal flags for instant easy reference on the race course. Long established as the most accessible and most trusted guide to the racing rules,  Paul Elvstrom Explains   is a must-have. Whether racing in a dinghy, keelboat or large yacht, it is the perfect pocket reference for those who want to win.

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At the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Strong Winds Are Always a Factor

This year a 100-foot class will earn a Maxi World Championship title for the first time, but gale winds forced the big boats to stay in the harbor as racing began.

By Kimball Livingston

They don’t call it Bomb Alley for nothing. The name comes from the winds that whip through a narrow passage between the Maddalena Archipelago and Sardinia, part of the course for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup . For the 2024 races that began this week, there was enough wind, with gusts up to 54 knots, to suspend some sailing.

The Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, a fixture of Mediterranean sailing since 1985, races out of Porto Cervo, Sardinia, on the northeastern face of the island. For the first time, racing this year includes a Maxi World Championship title for the winner among 10 boats 80 to 100 feet long, vying among a total fleet of about 40. Competition wraps up Saturday. Superlatives apply.

Bomb Alley is a racecourse classic, a birthplace of legends. Winds are squeezed to high velocities in the narrows. The same winds in strategic places are blocked by this islet or that, robbing the sails of power. A boat might drift into a calm, but demons are waiting to knock that boat flat if the crew eases out of the calm spot unprepared for the blast. Thus, Bomb Alley.

Murray Jones, an important player in New Zealand’s America’s Cup victories, called this “a fantastic place to sail; beautiful; challenging.” The veteran Ken Read, who has won multiple world championships, called it “a top racing venue on the planet with the best big boats and the best big-boat sailors, the elite of the elite, bobbing and weaving through spectacular islands and outcroppings. Get your name on the Rolex Maxis trophy and you’ve done something in our sport.”

About those islands and outcroppings, however. Navigators are charged with guiding the boats, cutting corners close, but not too close. They know the beauty, but also the worries. It is not unknown for teams to navigate the rocks ahead of race week, to build their own charts of hazards and depths.

In mild weather, it might be reassuring that underwater rocks show through clear waters. Not this week. Add wind and whitecaps, and the sea turns dark, inscrutable. The ante on getting it right goes up. A boat under full sail might be closing fast on a turning mark — or hazard — perhaps with another boat also bearing down hard. Did we mention adrenaline?

Murray this week shared the tactician’s role aboard the 100-foot Galateia with the American Tom Whidden, a tactician who has won the America’s Cup three times, but reminds people that “I’ve also lost it twice.” Those two are typical of the level of professional sailors who showed up for this event. They were supporting Galateia’s owner-driver David Leuschen at the center of it all.

The experience of driving is intense. Drivers control a machine 100 feet long and 140 feet high that blows spray left and right while they balance on a fine line between the sail power overhead and the keel’s counterweight below, with 25 people working for them on deck and the boat alive in their hands.

“I don’t see the point of racing these wonderful yachts if you don’t helm them yourself” said Andrea Recordati of Milan and a second-generation member of Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the host of the event. His 100-foot Bullitt (he’s a movie fan) won the Rolex Middle Sea Race last year, whetting his appetite to keep improving the Wally Cento he bought in 2021. As the new commodore of the yacht club, he would not have expected to have the fleet sit out the first two days of racing in a gale, but it happened. History had its own way of writing a wrinkle into “celebrating the 40th anniversary of our partnership with Rolex.”

When the sun sets Saturday on Italy and the racing is finished, everyone will have a story. No one, however, will have memories more clear than the tacticians, whose job was to analyze every move and direct where to aim the boat while allowing for wind shifts, competitors that might be blocking and when the navigator says way or no way. And then, in less time than it takes to read that, they’ve moved three spaces.

Who are these people?

One is the American Ed Baird. Among his many achievements, Baird sealed his hero status in 2007, steering the Alinghi as if it could be on rails, defending the America’s Cup for Switzerland. He came to the 2024 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup as tactician for ICAP Leopard 3. The boat has a lot of moving parts.

“There is a small backup motor that runs all the time, powering the hydraulic ram that cants the keel from side to side, for stability,” Baird said. “It also keeps two daggerboards active, so there is a lot of machinery moving around.”

Deployed, a daggerboard — a fin — provides lateral resistance and limits sideways slip when the boat is sailing upwind. Downwind, daggerboards become resistance and up they come, out of the way.

Most of the boats have fewer moving parts. Leopard’s configuration, including water ballast, is best suited to long-distance racing. Using water ballast in the short races that are a component of Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup would mean transferring the water from side to side on multiple maneuvers, which probably burns too much time to pay off.

However, whether dashing across the Atlantic or around the rocks of the Maddalena Archipelago, Leopard’s powered winches are important to making the machinery manageable. Forget about humans frantically spinning handles on winches that move the sails.

Powered winches are standard in this fleet, and they are finding their way onto smaller race boats, too.

Power assist goes a long way toward making a 100-foot boat raceable, but, “Don’t kid yourself,” Baird said. “You still need 22 big, strong, smart people working together in combat mode.”

Jochen Schümann, in his role as tactician on the Wally yacht Magic Carpet Cubed, compared himself to “the conductor of an orchestra, giving direction.” As a four-time Olympian with three gold medals for Germany, his path follows a familiar pattern.

He sailed a small boat. He mastered the art of reading wind and current. He developed what sailors call a feel for speed until he could close his eyes and know instinctively what the boat was telling him. He learned the arts of maneuvering for advantage in a fleet with rapidly changing dynamics. Those are the skills a sailor builds over a lifetime and they translate to a 100-foot boat at Porto Cervo.

Perhaps the owner of a 100-foot boat has spent a lifetime building the wealth to play the game, but then it takes a team, and every player is a star.

Maxis Through the Years

Big boats have raced against each other for as long as there have been big boats, but the organizing efforts that led to the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup began with a different set of acronyms.

1980 The term Maxi was coined for a group of yachts, each about 70 feet long, handicapped under a formula known as the International Offshore Rule. As Class A, they raced a series of short and long races out of Porto Cervo, fixing Sardinia as the go-to location for the annual championship of the newly formed International Class A Yachting Association. The first winner was the American businessman Jim Kilroy’s Kialoa IV. Awards were presented by the Aga Khan, a founder of the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.

1984 Rolex entered the picture at Porto Cervo as sponsor of the Rolex Swan Cup, open to the popular line of boats from the premier Finnish builder

1985 Rolex sponsored the first Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.

1997-99 Larry Ellison, a founder of the Oracle Corporation, won with Sayonara before switching his focus to chasing the America’s Cup.

2001 With handicap formulas changing, Class A became history and the yachting association was reinvented as the International Maxi Association .

2013 The international sport was now managed by World Sailing. Two world-title events were allotted annually to the I.M.A., and the modern era began. The first sanctioned World Championship mixed dedicated race boats with holiday cruisers, exposing a need for separation.

2014 I.M.A. leadership created the Maxi 72 class for 72-foot boats, to support fair racing. Enthusiasm was high. The class win went to Alegre and skipper Andy Soriano, defeating past winners Bella Mente and Ran. For Soriano, having slipped to the runner-up spot two years in a row, the new format delivered a satisfying win. “The level of competition has been raised more than any of us could have imagined,” he said.

2015 The World Championship title was awarded to the Maxi 72 class. The American Hap Fauth’s Bella Mente took the title by one point over Robertissima III. Maxi 72s continued Worlds title racing in 2016 and 2017. By 2018, too many of the boats had been modified beyond the parameters of Maxi 72s. They continued to be competitive individually, but not as a class.

2017 The grandest fleet of big boats, the J Class , assembled six boats, enough to qualify for a Worlds title. Racing was in Newport, R.I., the home of so many America’s Cup matches. In the 2017 Worlds fleet, only Velsheda, launched in 1933, was original. The other five boats were replicas built of modern materials under class requirements to match the lines of one of the original Js. Harold Goddijn won with Lionheart, developed from a naval architect study for Ranger, the winner of the 1937 America’s Cup.

2024 The Maxi World Championship title was awarded in a blustery week with sailors hoping for a sunny reprieve to wrap it up.

Florida school district must return LGBTQ books to libraries after settlement

A school district in northeastern Florida must return three dozen books related to race and the LGBTQ community to school libraries as part of a settlement reached Thursday with authors, parents and students.

The Nassau County School Board removed 36 books last year after the titles were challenged by Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative advocacy group. The books included “And Tango Makes Three,” a popular children’s book by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo, as well as classics such as “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Crank” by Ellen Hopkins.

“This settlement — a watershed moment in the ongoing battle against book censorship in the United States — significantly restores access to important works that were unlawfully removed from the shelves of Nassau County, Florida’s public school libraries,” said Lauren Zimmerman, an attorney with the New York law firm Selendy Gay, which sued the district on behalf of Parnell and Richardson, along with Florida parents Sara Moerman, Toby Lentz and their children. 

“Students will once again have access to books from well-known and highly-lauded authors representing a broad range of viewpoints and ideas,” Zimmerman added in a statement. 

The Nassau County School Board did not immediately return a request for comment.

The suit was among several that challenged the removal of books by school districts across Florida under a law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that made it easier for community members to challenge books they found to be inappropriate in school libraries. The law, which has since been rolled back , was part of a handful of bills that restricted how schools can provide information about race and the LGBTQ community.

The plaintiffs filed their suit in May, arguing that the school board used “unlawful censorship” to remove “the children’s book behind closed doors and without community involvement or comment.” The suit also argued that the district violated the state’s  “Sunshine Law” by removing the books without a public meeting. 

“They have a statutory right to get the opportunity to attend and comment on these types of decisions, the removal of books or the restriction of books, and they weren’t given that opportunity here,” Zimmerman told First Coast News at the time. “All 36 books, including ‘Tango’, were removed without any public hearing whatsoever, which means there wasn’t any community commentary on, you know, whether this was the appropriate decision.”

From July 2021 through December 2023, Florida had the highest number of book-ban cases in the U.S., at 3,135 bans across 11 school districts , according to an April report from PEN America, a nonprofit that works to protect free expression and has also filed a lawsuit against another Florida county over book bans. 

Books with LGBTQ characters and themes made up 36% of all book bans from 2021 to 2023, while books about race and racism and books with characters of color made up 37% of all bans, PEN America found. Book ban numbers from the full 2023-2024 school year have not yet been released but by midway through that school year, according to PEN America, book bans had already surpassed the previous school year’s total.

For more from NBC Out, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Jo Yurcaba is a reporter for NBC Out.

Sports | Gold Cup powerboat race highlights San Diego…

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Sports | Gold Cup powerboat race highlights San Diego Bayfair weekend on Mission Bay

San Diego Bayfair will also be hosting one of the more historic events in motorsports. The American Power Boat Association Gold Cup, which dates to 1904 — or seven years before the first Indianapolis 500.

Six of the turbine-powered Unlimiteds are entered in the event, with qualifying Friday, three heats races Saturday and three heats Sunday before the championship race around 3:45 p.m. Competition will be held on the 2½-mile Bill Muncey Memorial Course between East Vacation Isle and Crown Point Shores on the west and Fiesta Island on the east.

This will be the 56th Unlimited Hydroplane race on Mission Bay since 1964 and the fifth time San Diego has hosted the Gold Cup — although this is the first time since 1989.

The weekend program will also include racing in the automotive-powered Grand Prix class plus One Liters and other flatbottom and limited hydroplane classes.

“The goal is to have more action on the water plus other activities,” said race director Bob Davies. “It’s more than a race. It’s a festival.”

Historically, the saltwater Mission Bay course has been the fastest on the tour.

“Mission Bay is by far one of my favorite courses,” said three-time Mission Bay champion J. Michael Kelly. “Not only because it’s a very fast course that I’ve had success on, but it’s also a beautiful place to visit. It’s like a mini-vacation before and after a serious weekend of racing.”

The boat racing course was part of the charter when the Mission Bay aquatic park was first being developed in 1958. The curvature of East Vacation Isle and Fiesta Island was designed for the race course, with the sloping beach developed to dissipate waves from both race boats and recreational boat traffic.

While Kelly is one of the six Unlimited Hydroplane drivers here this weekend, he is not the one to beat.

Andrew Tate and his U-91 could clinch the season driver and boat championships during Saturday’s heats. With two wins, a second and a fourth in the season’s first four races, Tate and the U-91 hold a 949-point lead over teammate Corey Peabody and the U-9 entering the traditional Mission Bay season finale.

Tate won the season’s first two races at Guntersville, Ala., and Madison, Ind. Peabody defeated Tate at Tri-Cities, Wash. Kelly won in Seattle in the U-1.

Rounding out the six-boat fleet in the East Vacation Isle pits are the U-40 (Dustin Echols driving), U-11 (Jamie Nilsen) and the U-27 (Dave Villwock). Echols is third in points with 3,837, followed closely by Nilsen at 3,812 and Kelly at 3,795.

In addition to his win, Peabody has a runner-up finish, a sixth-place finish and a seventh-place finish this season. Echols has a third and three fifths. Nilsen has pair of seconds.

But don’t count out Villwock on Mission Bay. Now 70 years old, Villwock is the all-time leader in Unlimited Hydroplane wins with 67. He is 10-time winner of the Gold Cup and a 10-time champion on Mission Bay, where he last won in 2011. Villwock has been racing Unlimited since 1992, although he has twice retired only to return.

Tate scored his Mission Bay wins in 2014, ’19 and ’21. There was also no race during the pandemic year of 2020. Tate previously scored back-to-back wins in ’17 and ’18.

The rules of the Gold Cup places extra demands on Unlimited Hydroplane teams. The preliminary heats are each four laps. Sunday’s championship will be five laps of the 2.5-mile course.

The Unlimited Hydroplane program opens at 11 a.m. Friday with testing. Two 45-minute rounds of qualifying will commence at 12:50 p.m. and 2:35 p.m.

The Grand Prix boats powered by big-block automobile engines will race on a shorter 1 2/3-mile course between East Vacation Isle. The Grand Prix field includes a pair of entries from Australia. The One Liters and other hydro and flatbottom classes will also run on shorter courses with all the championship heats scheduled for Sunday.

One of the attractions of Bayfair is that it is the only weekend of the year when motorhomes and overnight camping is allowed on East Vacation Isle, Fiesta Island and Crown Point Shores. Limited spaces are still available on Fiesta Island and Crown Point Shores, although East Vacation Isle is sold out.

Three-day super passes are available for $60.

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The Tactics of Small Boat Racing (Norton Nautical Books) Paperback – December 17, 1991

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A detailed, technical, and readable study of the tactics of winning for the experienced sailor―by one of the world's leading small boat racers.

• Print length 350 pages
• Language English
• Publisher W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date December 17, 1991
• Dimensions 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• ISBN-10 0393308014
• ISBN-13 978-0393308013
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (December 17, 1991)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 350 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393308014
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393308013
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
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