Sailing Solo traces the history of each race, introduces the skippers, and explains the impact of design and technology on the boats they race. Single-Handed Transatlantic Race in 1960, the idea of lone sailors pitting their wits against each other and the elements has captured the public's imagination. Here is a rich history and celebration of the great voyages, the races, and the men and women who sail them. Single-handed voyaging is still the ultimate test of resourcefulness, courage, endurance, and imagination. In the century since Slocum's pioneering voyage, the boats have changed but the sea has not. With lavish, full-color photographyĪnd dramatic prose, Sailing Solo pays homage to the world's greatest sailors and gives you first-hand accounts of every major single-handed race. It's a dream to which many sailors have devoted their lives some have lost their lives in the pursuit. Two years later Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to do it nonstop. In 1899 he described the voyage in Sailing Alone Around the World now considered a classic of travel literature. On April 24, 1895, he set sail from Boston, Massachusetts. He personally rebuilt an 11.2 metre sloop-rigged fishing boat that he named the Spray.

In 1966 Sir Francis Chichester astonished the world by sailing solo around the globe in just 226 days. Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail around the world alone in a small boat.

seaman and adventurer, set sail in his 37-foot sloop the Spray, a derelict boat that he had rebuilt. Ever since Joshua Slocum circumnavigated the globe in 1895-98, sailors have dreamed of taking to the high seas alone. On April 24, 1895, at the age of 51, Joshua Slocum, a Nova Scotia born, naturalized U.

Slocum sailing alone around the world