Customer Reviews

Comeback: My Race for the America's Cup

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For America's cup enthusiasts, this is a fun book to read. It goes into the epic loss to Australia and how the cup was won back. The subject matter is very technical. However, it is still worth reading just to know about the behind-the-scenes action in the years before the 1983 and 1987 America's cup. If you don't know much about technical sailing terms(like me), you will miss out on a lot of excitement of the races. One also gets the impression that Dennis Connor colors history to show himself as the good guy. It seems from the book that everyone else was the bad guy !

Dennis Connor is an icon of sailing and this is his story of explaining the loss of The Cup in 1983 and what it took to win it back in 1987. It was certainly not a sure deal that the US or even DC would win. DC is surprisingly candid with his comments. It is certainly not all a blow by blow on the racecourse. He tells about all the smoke filled back room negotiations, fund-raising, the design of the boat, his crew, his strategy, and why he succeeded. Unlike some writing for a mass audience, he does not dumb down his explanations of sailing terms. He does give plenty of explanation of what happens, including how he recruited each crew member and what their job was. The book is well written and has diagrams of key race situations. I would think any one who is interested in sailboat racing would find it a classic.

Interesting insight to what it takes to undertake the task of mounting a major sporting event. Well worth every sailor and sports fan to read. If you love sailing you will like to read this sailing history. Dennis Conner is the best of the best in the sailing world. His record stands on its own.