Customer Reviews

Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having met Rob Mundle at The Armchair Sailor in Newport, I am extremely impressed by his overwhelming concern and thoughtfulness for the people involved in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart Race. Mundle obviously went to great lengths to get the most factual information about the race, and he weaves the hundreds of stories together wonderfully in his book. Excellent book on a moving subject.

I finished this book on a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles...with one disaster after another occurring in this massive storm, the writer keeps the reader actively turning pages throughout the book. You would not believe the bravery of everyone involved, from the actual racing teams to the rescue teams, not one person was left unphased by this experience.

I am not an active sailor now, but with some experience in racing with a crew on sailboats, I found the account of this true story gripping.

Certainly, a fun book to read, even if you are not into sailing. It may even convince you to never go open ocean sailing!

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to be inside the cabin of a sailboat that has just been flipped by an 80-foot wave and 100 mph winds, read Fatal Storm. Mundle's sailing experience and descriptive prose made this fateful race come alive for me. Long after I had put the book down from a record three-hour reading session, my world was still rocking, I still felt the wind and rain in my face, and I found myself glancing behind, waiting for the next rogue wave to slam me down one more time. Anyone even remotely interested or connected to the world of sailing should not miss this spellbinding tale. Most important, you will remember its important lessons when you leave for an offshore cruise or race of your own.

When I decided to read this book, I actually started with another book on the subject recommended by Sports Illustrated. Based on Amazon reviewers I selected this one and wasn't disappointed.

Mundle attempts to show the personal side of the individuals as well as the intense struggle on each boat and helicopter. This is a spellbinding story which he did a good job of relaying. I learned about sailing but more importantly, I learned what it felt like to confront your worst nightmare come true.

This is a great subject correctly described by the author and as a bonus, the pictures in the book are good also. Off-coast sailing? Not for me after this book.

This is simply a superb book. Its narrative force practically places you on board a number of the yachts as they head toward Hobart. It is both well researched and written, being based on many interviews with race participants, and does not skimp on the necessary factual information. The text is also well supported by an amazing group of photographs. Those who have read The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger will find this book irresistable. For those who have not, I suggest you buy both!

A gripping story of an exciting yet tragic event. The book is written in such a fashion that it is even more dramatic and nail-biting because of its lack of hype and superlatives. Were it not for the spectacular photos the storm and the heroic feats would appear to be fictitous. The stuff of exaggerated old sea stories. Every sailor, in fact anyone who has ever been on an ocean, will find this book frightening but will not be able to put it down. I started reading it on a plane, continued in a NY cab (anyone who has been in a NY cab knows how difficult that is), read it standing on the subway and finished it at 3am, all on the same day.

If you've ever wondered what it's really like to be inside the cabin of a sailboat that has just been flipped by an 80-foot wave and 100 mph winds, read Fatal Storm. Mundle's sailing experience and descriptive prose made this fateful race come alive for me. Long after I had put the book down from a record three-hour reading session, my world was still rocking, I still felt the wind and rain in my face, and I found myself glancing behind, waiting for the next rogue wave to slam me down one more time. Anyone even remotely interested or connected to the world of sailing should not miss this spellbinding tale. Most important, you will remember its important lessons when you leave for an offshore cruise or race of your own.

A pretty good read. The story jumped around a bit, but you can keep up with it. The map toward the start was a big help in locating where the accidents happened. The pictures could have used a little more explaining.

Rob Mundle gets to the very heart of his subject, the confined quarters of a sailboat in horrendous sea conditions. He's been there. He puts you there so effectively in his vivid accounts of these stricken yachts that you come away from reading the book, thanking the good Lord that you the reader are still alive...having survived the storm. A must read for anyone going to sea or building a boat to sail offshore! Mundle gives you more drama in one book than you get in the entire Patrick O'Brien series.

Rob Mundle is journalist and it shows. But behind the bonhomie and parochialism of the yachting scene insider there's an immediacy to this narrative, a rawness to the action and a fire in these heroics that combine to make Fatal Storm an inspiring read. There's something wild about this story, something that makes it different to Fastnet Force 10. There are moments in Fatal Storm when the sailors reading it will be afraid.