Last Man Across the Atlantic, The

Publisher: Mainstream Publishing Co., £15.99

Publication Date: 2005

The author is, of course, well known to many fellow members from his entertaining talks to sections and his career in broadcasting and as a journalist. His account of the 2005 transatlantic journey he made alone in the Corinthian ranks of the OSTAR* is as enjoyable as you might expect.

It is not a detailed description of courses to follow, how sails were set, but more of a graphic sketch of the impact of the 5 weeks spent on his own dealing with the privations, the weather conditions, occasional gear failure and the delights of this long-thought of challenge. Paul Heiney is an ordinary cruising sailor, albeit one with considerable experience, and, as he often points out, one who is not interested in the race. Thus we have many insights into his feelings during the voyage: the near despair, the pleasure in natural phenomena and the support he has from his family in moments of stress. Chapters cover his early sailing development and the preparation for the event. The major part of the work is the race itself with his own account set against some of the official records of the time which show how significantly different conditions were met by the various contestants. Appendices give details of his Biscay 36 ketch Ayesha, of the 34 who started, and of whom 16 retired for all manner of reasons, a bibliography and, most sustainingly of all, Mrs Woodman’s recipe for fruit cake.

Heiney was himself much sustained by the accounts of those legends of past events: Chichester, Hasler, Richey, Lewis, Howells. He would be the last person to put his book alongside those, but this is undoubtedly a fascinating read and insight into the way the challenge can affect the individual. We are frequently told how little the winning, whatever that may be, matters – perhaps a little too often for it to ring entirely true. - PDD