Book review of Ellen MacArthur

I'm into my spy/espionage stories, so for paperback thrills I like bit of Frederick Forsyth or Tom Clancy. The SAS boys, Chris Ryan and Andy McNab are pretty good too. To tone down the violence and world-wide destruction I'll go with a bit of law from John Grisham or an autobiography. I got Gordon Ramsay's for my birthday recently but I wanted to finish Ellen MacArthur's Race Against Time first and in between the trick or treaters, I managed to do just that last night.

This girl is simply unbelievable. The book isn't about her in a biographical sense - it's about the race. It's in a diary style (a la blog) and allows you to live with her anxiety, exhaustion and undying motivation every step of the way. By no means is it the most entertaining book you'll read this year, but if you want to see what a human being is capable of when driven by enough passion and motivation then it really does deserve 10/10. A couple of snippets to share :

...wave landed on the boat as hard as if an elephant had been dropped on us... We're in it - gusts over 45 knots, and the sea is pretty damn bad... it's impossible to even change your socks or stand up inside the boat without getting thrown over... My body has been pushed to its absolute limits; once again I found myself screaming at the heavens... I can't sleep, I'm struggling to even push food down I'm so nervous...

You'll see in the book that she refers to herself and her actions as 'we' despite being in a solo race. She's talking about her boat designers, her onshore support team, her sponsors, her fans, her family and friends - she's got real class and is an incredible team player. First rate Ellen, both you and the record.