It’s sort of hauntingly ironic that Crowhurst was desperately trying to be a hero, and inadvertently allowed his competitor Robin Knox-Johnston to be a real hero. Not for winning the race, but by giving the winnings directly to Crowhursts family after the news broke. In a deeply depressing story, it’s nice to find the good in humanity still in there.

A book about a motivated liar that explores in excruciating detail the themes of self-delusion, cowardice, failure and self-annihilation. The book is well-written and full of detail, and would appeal to anyone who is interested in sailing, electrical engineering and even what it means to be a successful husband, father, business collaborator and entrepreneur. It is not a happy book to read, not only because we know how David Crowhurst's voyage will end, but also because we experience first-hand the torturous experience he put himself through.

While this book is definitive, and contains more information about Crowhurst's voyage than any online article or documentary produced so far, the one major fault in it is that, later in the book, there are long sections devoted to Crowhurst's nonsensical ravings jotted down in his logbooks towards the end of his trip, and his life.

I suppose the writers were trying to explain that Crowhurst committed suicide because of psychotic delusions rather than true remorse about how his lies and ineptitude had forced him into a corner, but these passages from the logbooks are tedious and uninteresting, and should have been excised.

Besides that, this book is a great read.

A sad and fascinating story

This book angered me so much that I had to bail out at 35% (so my Kindle tells me) which is just after the chapter detailing Crowhurst's disastrous first 11 days.

The man was a fool.

He wanted to be a hero, one of his own making, yet he begged and borrowed and skimped and penny pinched his way into getting a boat which needed months more prep to be properly seaworthy, all the while hugely overestimating his own abilities to sail.

This is no extraordinary tale of survival; no haunting story of one man against the sea. Crowhurst is no Shackleton. This is a book about an idiot who lost his life because he jumped in with two feet into a task he lacked the skills to compete in, using a boat that was not fit for purpose.

I have no sympathy for the man himself - he's a prime candidate for a Darwin Award, yet I feel extremely sorry for the wife and son he left behind. And for what.

I'm not wasting any more of my time reading about a fella I'd punch in the head.

Incredible journalism brilliantly intertwined with thoughtful interpretation, storytelling, and commentary. Compelling and mysterious as well as informative.

Incredible journalism brilliantly intertwined with thoughtful interpretation, storytelling, and commentary. Compelling and mysterious as well as informative.