Crash Test Boat

From the people behind the UK's leading sailing magazine for cruisers comes Crash Test Boat, a dramatic documentation of controlled sailing disasters which has the potential to save the lives of each and every seaman who buys it. Crash Test Boat is unique in its field, with no other title on the market aimed at explicitly revealing at first hand what happens when a boat encounters a major disaster. On the spot reporting with action photographs show what happens when typical family boats fall victim to eight different types of sailing disaster. How quickly does a cabin fill with water when the hull is holed? How do you control a gas leak or explosion? What should you do first when dealing with a dismasting? By providing cruising and racing yachtsmen with vivid accounts of such extreme events, Crash Test Boat equips the reader with vital knowledge on what to do if disaster strikes and, ultimately, gives everyone on board a greater chance of survival if the boat is overcome.

'I cannot imagine setting sail without it' SAIL 'A must for all aspiring ocean crossers' Yachting World We call it 'The Pond', yet the Atlantic Ocean covers one fifth of the surface of our planet and one third of its surface area of water. It is still a mighty big pond to cross! Realising the dream of an Atlantic crossing remains a challenge but the rewards are many and lifelong. The Atlantic Crossing Guide is well established as the standard reference for anyone planning an Atlantic voyage, whether via the trade wind route to the Caribbean or to Europe from the United States. The better prepared you are the greater your chances of success. Packed full of the collective wisdom of cruising sailors over four decades, this new edition has been updated to include advice on: PREPARATIONS · suitable boats, including considerations of hull integrity · equipment and maintenance · advances in navigation and communications systems · access to weather and routeing information · the balance of power input and usage · planning for hurricane season · risk management · crew harmony and health · provisioning PASSAGE PLANNING · Atlantic weather systems, including tropical waves and hurricanes · common routes and timings across the Atlantic · seasonal cruising along bordering coasts and within Atlantic island groups · fog and ice in the higher latitudes · key landfalls 'A fantastic amount of information' Yachting Monthly

Paddy Macklin, a self-taught sailor, decided to sail around the world in the smallest boat possible, single-handed, and hopefully, without stopping. He survived, sailing the Southern Oceans in winter and rounding both southernmost capes in the world, but by the skin of his teeth. His extraordinary little craft, "Tessa" was knocked down several times in the Southern Ocean and completely rolled twice. "In the space of about 40 seconds I was thrown out of my bunk onto the ceiling (deckhead) then back to my bunk again...throughout the time I spent upside down, the most noticeable thing was the complete silence". It was the damage done by these two 360 degree knockdowns that forced Paddy and Tessa to break their journey in New Zealand, pulling into Timaru where sailing friends towed them into port, and helped piece together the shattered sailor and his little craft. As Paddy noted, "It's not the huge seas that damage a strong, well-found yacht; it's the breaking tops of the seas - several tons of very fast-moving water - that present the greatest danger. Throughout his sojourn, Paddy was able to communicate twice a week with family back in England and this has been diarised and interspersed with the Captain's log thus giving a more personal insight into the character of Tessa's captain, how terrorised he was by the gigantic seas, how pleased he was to make friends with dolphins, birds, and whales, how wonderful it was to sight land, and how he managed to remain sane during an odyssey that few of us would ever dream of undertaking. It's a brave - or perhaps mad - person who would pit his strength against the might of nature. Paddy is one of the few.