Uphill All The Way

Adlard ColesNautical 1997, 167pp, £14.99

Very few of us will have the opportunity to sail in one of the round the world races, but for the armchair yachtsman, Alan Sears' story of his experience as a crewman aboard Toshiba Wave Warrior in the BT Global Challenge brings it vividly to life.

We can experience, with him, what it is like to appreciate the relative comfort of a 40 knot wind (after it had dropped from 50 knots) and to reflect on his claim that, whatever dangers and hardships the crews face, yacht races are won and lost at night - and in light airs.

After nine months sailing 30,000 miles 'the wrong way round' Toshiba finished second of the fourteen identical 67 ft yachts; After reading this account one can appreciate what was the most extraordinary achievement of all. It was not just that Time & Tide, whose crew were all handicapped in one way or another, took only 15 days longer to cover the course than the winner. The incredible feat was that they finished. GHC