Monday, October 17, 2011

Book Review: Ultimate Sailing Adventures

I got this book over the weekend, tempted, as the nights are getting longer, by the pictures and stories of sailing adventures. It has something for everyone, ranging from the canals of France to exploring the Northwest passage.

The ones I've done are:
- Round the Island Race
- Sydney Harbour
- Land's End
- Sail up the Thames
- Fastnet
- Sushi at sea
- Charter in Greece
- Cowes Week
- Race around Portland Bill
- Oysters in Cornwall
- East Coast sailing (ok, in a dinghy)
- Wander in a Wayfarer (ok, have sailed a Wayfarer)
- Cross the English Channel

Some of the others to be honest I can't see myself ever doing - the likes of competing in the Volvo or Vendee Globe, but there are plenty of ideas for future sails.

One thing I wasn't sure about was it has this concept of difficulty.

Now I can see that sailing a Wayfarer could be anything from "simple" to "extreme" depending upon where you sail it. But how is it that both rounding Land's End and Portland Bill are described as "tricky" but the Fastnet, which involves both, is only described as "moderate" - the same as Charter in Greece? I mean - seriously?

Sailing in the ARC or in a classics regatta weren't on the list so maybe there needs to be a list of 200 sailing adventures?

What sailing adventures would be on your list?