I picked this paperback up in a Minneapolis airport book shop, desperate for something to read at night during an upcoming hiking trip. Little did I know how riveting the tale would be, nor could I have guessed that I'd laugh aloud in a few spots.

Imagine going out on the ocean in a little boat, maybe one you built and definitely one you outfitted yourself. Maybe a little scary but you'd have GPS and satellite 'phones and top notch equipment - right? Now imagine that it's 1968. You're using a compass and maps and, when your equipment goes out, the stars to navigate. Now imagine that you're going around the world, by sea, by the southern route that takes you to the most treacherous waters and weather possible. And you can never touch land, nor receive supplies. Now, how do you feel?

That was the 1968 contest for 9 sailors in A Voyage for Madmen. Maybe it's because I can't swim a lick and get queasy on a ferry but this book was a great read. I was so taken by the description of the Furious Fifties (the sea in the 50th parallel) that I'm finally heading south to see it for myself (from a safe land mass. For perspective, Cape Horn lies at 55 degrees 56. Its normal annual weather pattern is 200 days of gale, 130 days of cloudy sky and the rest of the time windy and rough.

A gripping and beautifully written book. I felt like I was right in the boat getting slammed around the Southern Ocean. And what a cast of characters. Memorable.

Outstanding book. Nichols writes with an unparalleled understanding of the ocean and the characters, and depicts what at times was likely a mundane journey, as a riveting and interesting voyage. He helps the reader develop a deep understanding of the characters and what drives them, and the practical aspects sailing around the entire world. A solid 5 stars.

Crazy, crazy crazy. When I started this book I knew that I would never have been on of those people to do what these men did, and after finishing it I still hold that belief. These guys were nuts.. the book was fascinating. It interested me just like climbers of Mt Everest do. They wish to push the human limits. I like to read about it, but I would never do it.

A great tale!

Well written account of the race, delving into the drive, desires and even madness that propelled these men to attempt the journey.

2.5/5
Although it has a very, very slow start, I genuinely came to enjoy this weird cross between an adventure novel and a lesson in the history of sailing. It's definitely written with those who have previous knowledge of the sport in mind, however, so I wouldn't call this an easy book to pick up. Also, I found myself confused as to who was who at more than one point, although I don't know if that was the book's fault or my own.

Really a great read--masterful balance of background information, personalities, in the moment descriptions to bring this incredible sail around the world in 1968 to life. It is inspiring and also sobering at the same time.

I suddenly have the desire to sail around the world.

This was chosen by my work's book group, and I wasn't looking forward to it: an account of 9 people circumnavigating the world, solo in sailing boats for the Sunday Times' Golden Globe competition in 1968. How I interpreted that: a bunch of blokes being macho littering their bravado speech with loads of nautical terms which I won't understand, will never remember and care even less.

I loved it! It helped that I had just had a bike crash so I could do little but sit and watch TV and read: and I found it a page turner! Huge division when we reviewed it at work. Those who found it boring, and would have preferred a more linear narrative: the competitors set off at different times so there was a lot of back and forth, stop/starting etc but I found that lent more interest to the story.

A bit like 'Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow' where you don't need to understand the gaming terms, in this high seas drama, you don't need to know what a spinnaker is or what a goosehead does but it never does any harm to Google and learn a little bit.

Annoyingly, the weekend I was reading this, a new 'sailing' book was reviewed in the Sunday Times and I knew I shouldn't have read it but curiosity got the better of me and revealed the winner of the 1968 Golden Globe. Goddammit!

I'm not giving away anything. Just saying: Moitessier was the coolest entrant! Also read about the magical powers of the porpoises.

Disclaimer: I am a sailor who has sailed in heavy weather, and thus I have more than average interest in this book; others may not find it as fascinating as I did.

"Round the World! There is much in that sound to inspire proud feelings; but whereto does all that circumnavigation conduct? Only through numberless perils to the very point whence we started."
So said Ishmael in Moby-Dick.

Since I had already read Bernard Moitessier's book, The Long Way (La Longue Route), I knew about the Golden Globe Race of 1968. Nichols' depiction of the contestants only makes Bernard Moitessier more appealing as a sailor and a man. Moitessier was a character, but also a man of high integrity, and with a few exceptions, those who got to know him well, loved the man. He probably suffered from depression and / or bipolar syndrome, but he was fearless and without peer as a sailor, as he was in his determination to be first around the world single-handed, unassisted. And he was first, in a sense. He crossed his outbound track in the South Atlantic (i.e., he had circumnavigated), and then he gave up the race, choosing to sail from the Atlantic back to Tahiti via the Cape of Good Hope rather than to England where the race ended. So Moitessier sailed 1 and 1/2 times around the world, instead of just once, and he did so without touching land, without getting assistance in any form: not by taking on fresh water or food, not by getting a tow into a port, nor in any other way. His reasons for dropping out of the race are understandable to those sailors who love the sea, and who have sailed in conditions bad enough to make them question why they were out there in the first place.

As the writer points out, the sailors in that 1968 race had more in common with Captain James Cook than they did with the sailors of the 21st Century. There was no GPS, there were no satellite phones, no electric furling of sails, no solar panels to charge batteries. The man who won the race, Knox-Johnston, sailed in a massively over-built wooden boat made of teak, and Moitessier's very simple boat, Joshua, was made of boilerplate steel (all his previous boats were of wood). Though I have sailed five times in the Gulf Stream, once in horrendous conditions, with Force 7-9 winds, I feel like an imposter of a sailor when I read what these guys went through.

Moitessier sent a message (via slingshot) to a merchant marine ship when he was had decided to give up the race. It said that he was headed to Tahiti via the Cape of Good Hope, and he said he was doing it, "parce que je suis hereux en mer, et peut-etre pour sauver mon ame". "Because I am happy at sea, and perhaps to save my soul." Moitessier felt the prize money of the Golden Globe sullied what was otherwise a noble venture, and he refused to be a part of the "circus" that he foresaw would ensue if he won the race, which seemed likely after he rounded Cape Horn. He respected, even loved, his competitors, and they returned his affection, but he had no use for accolades from those who had no real understanding what he and his competitors had been through.

Despite my admiration of Moitessier, I probably understand Knox-Johnston (the winner) more clearly. He just kept on, obstinately, working hard to cheer himself up every day, but like Moitessier, and unlike many of the others, he loved the sea. Tetley, the other competitor who came close to finishing, understood completely when Moitessier dropped out; he said, "How like Bernard to do that". Tetley's boat disintegrated under him 1,000 miles from England, and he was rescued at sea. Donald Crowhurst, who mortgaged everything in a desperate bid to win the big prize, went mad and apparently stepped over the side in calm waters in mid-Atlantic, holding his chronometer.

I loved this book and read it compulsively for three days until I had finished. I think that even for non-sailors, this is a compelling read.

The Golden Globe Race, which requires participants to circumnavigate the earth in a small sailboat with only primitive instruments, has run only twice: 1968 and 2018 (ongoing). This is the detailed and fascinating story of all nine men who participated in 1968. What a motley crew of people each having their own motivation for participating!

In 1968, of the nine men who started the race, only one finished: Sir Robin Knox Johnston (he was knighted as a result of his completion). The story of all nine men is told in great detail in this fascinating book. The writing is sharp. A good bit of research went into this short and highly-readable book.

Of the nine, one man went berserk (see my review of "The Long Way" by Bernard Moitessier -- he was writing this book while he went berserk and he captures it all very well), and another went berserk and committed suicide (Donald Crowhurst -- his story has inspired a bunch of movies and documentaries and even plays. The latest is "The Mercy" with Colin Firth playing Crowhurst).

What inspires these men? What are their stories? What difficulties did they face? How did they overcome them (or not)? It's all fascinating and makes a compelling read.

I haven't stayed up late to finish a book in a long time. I ripped through the last 50% of this in one night; once the race rounded Cape Horn I was in it for the long haul.

It's an adventure book, but it's also more than that-- it's about ego, loneliness, guts, and happiness. 5 celestial navigation stars.