Spanish Castle to White Night

So, you think you’d like to sail around the world?

Imagine sunsets across calm oceans, cocktails at cosy anchorages, landfalls in amazing new places....

And then imagine something else, imagine taking part in one of the planet’s last great adventures. Imagine the story of an incredible race, ripping and roaring through the seven seas. Imagine a tale of endurance, deprivation, fear and courage, a story of winners and losers, those who made it and those who did not. Imagine ‘Spanish Castle to White Night – the Race Around the World’.

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 ran for 37,000 miles through 10 stages across the world’s seas and oceans. It was raced in the planet’s fastest and most demanding monohull, the Volvo Open 70, capable of sustaining speeds of well over 30 knots. The boat and the course made this the most exacting of all crewed sailboat races, a microscopic examination of the sailing skill, seamanship, stamina and strategy of the 11 men aboard each boat.

This book charts the story of some of the 88 men who left Alicante in October 2008 to win that race. It followed them through the next nine months as they endured and enjoyed every possible emotion, their human story intertwined with the raw elements of nature and the extraordinary technology on which their success and sometimes even their survival depended:

Fly through the Southern Ocean at world record pace, until there is a sickening, loud bang.

Wake up to a middle-of-the-night phone call from a badly damaged boat at the mercy of freezing southern seas.

Endure a demolition derby at the hands of Monsoon storms and Japan’s Black Tide.

Battle for 40 days and 40 nights to cross the Pacific from north to south and west to east, round Cape Horn and finally escape to balmy Brazil.

Snap a rudder amidst the snow and fog of the North Atlantic in winter.

This account of the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race is now available in this text-only, eBook edition of the original, highly-illustrated Spanish Castle to White Night, winner of the Sportel Monaco 2009 Award. It’s the second of two accounts of round the world races written by Mark Chisnell, the first is ‘Risk to Gain.’

Reviews for Spanish Castle to White Night.

‘I doubt I'll ever circle the globe in a racing boat, and I'm not sure I even want to, but Mark Chisnell has made the experience real. This is a marvellous book about a great adventure, and anyone fascinated by sailing should have it on their shelf.’
Bernard Cornwell.

‘Racing around the world looks as though it has progressed significantly since I had a go on Drum in '86; certainly on a technical level. The boats are lighter, faster and sailing more on the edge than ever before. But the experience of the men who sail them remains the same. It's muscle and nerve and the will to win, to get you across a big, big ocean. There's a whole lot of seawater out there to drive you crazy as you go around.’
Simon Le Bon.

‘Emotions, tactics and conditions are brought to life for the reader throughout and, whether you are a sailor or not, you will find yourself carried around the world on a captivating journey.’
Dee Caffari.