Tuesday 3 November 2009

VOR: Spanish Castle to White Night Book



by Lizzie (Green) Ward

Eighty-eight men set off from beneath the ramparts of Alicante’s Castle of Santa Bárbara, but only 36 would journey the full 37,000 miles to finish in the White Nights of St Petersburg. Japan’s Black Tide, brutal weather, injuries, and even the credit crunch all took their toll.

Published today by dakini Media, London, and voted the Best Sports Illustrated Book at Sportel, Monaco in early October, this is the story of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, ripping and roaring through the seven seas – from Spain, past Africa and on to Asia, round the Americas and back to Europe. It’s a story of endurance, deprivation and adventure.



This stunning book is written by novelist and navigator Mark Chisnell and is available in English and Spanish.

It charts the tale of some of the world’s best offshore sailors who left Alicante in October 2008 in pursuit of victory in the Volvo Ocean Race. It follows them through the ensuing nine months as they endured 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.

It is illustrated with striking photography from a team that both followed and participated in the race, including Rick Tomlinson, whose work has been featured in National Geographic. A team of eight media crew members (MCMs) raced around the world capturing the drama as it unfolded and among them was Rick Deppe, PUMA’s MCM, who was also a cameraman for the Emmy Award nominated Discovery Channel documentary, Deadliest Catch.

Author, Mark Chisnell, said: “The latest Volvo Ocean Race was a fantastic event with so many memorable moments to bring alive in the book. It was quite a challenge to capture all of it in words, but I tried to apply the lessons about story-telling that I’ve learned from writing my novels. The book looks beautiful, the team did a great job on photography, picture selection, design and production and I want to thank everyone involved for their fantastic efforts”.

Also available in addition to Spanish Castle to White Night, is a special Nordic edition – High Seas High Stakes (English language) which includes an Ericsson Racing Team prologue and epilogue written by Sean McNeill, a sailing writer and active racer, and imagery by premier Swedish photographer, Oskar Kihlborg. Each book includes a race highlights DVD of over two hours, making it a must-have at €40 plus postage and packing.

Spanish Castle to White Night (English and Spanish) and High Seas High Stakes (Nordic edition) are available to buy online at http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/book/ for immediate delivery.

Volvo Ocean Race

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