Customer Reviews

Race to Freedom : A Tale of an Impossible Around the World Journey

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A good sailing story needs to be about more than simply sailing, and Vlad Murnikov's book "Race to Freedom" is just that kind of book. True, it's about sailing, in fact it's about one of the last great sailing adventures, the Whitbread Round the World Race, but it is much more than that. It's a personal story about Vlad's transition from life in communist Russia, to a life on the free streets of America. It's a story of hope and struggle and inspiration, perspiration and desperation, and through it all Vlad weaves the story of the first ever, and by happenstance, the last ever Soviet Whitbread entry. And who better to tell this wonderful story than the man who started it all. As Vlad tells it; "I was traveling through the night on a train from Moscow to ........... reading an outdated copy of Sail Magazine. I had found the magazine at a book store in Moscow. It was a rare find in those days, but lucky for me it was a bonus issue about the 1995/96 Whitbread race." As his train swayed across the dark landscape, a germ of an idea firmly planted itself in his resolve. Vlad vowed to field a Soviet entry in the next Whitbread race. It took a man a rare courage and blind optimism to think that he could pull it off, but once you have read "Race to Freedom," you will come to realize that Vlad is indeed a man of rare courage and unwavering optimism. How else could he have designed, built, found sponsorship and raced his yacht around the world at a time when the Soviet Union was barely learning to crawl into democracy and capitalism?

I have a personal affection for this book. Indeed I was lucky enough to be invited by Murnikov to race the first leg of the Whitbread on board the boat. I must admit to being surprised when Vlad leapt into the rubber dinghy moments before the start of the race, and waved us goodbye as we sailed over the horizon. I only discovered later that he was returning to shore to continue the never ending search for money, that ingredient key to any successful sailing campaign. It was this type of selfless determination (he would rather have been sailing than fund raising) that saw the Fazisi project through to the end and placed it squarely in the history books.

While the book takes the reader through the struggles of organizing a project of this scale, it also delights the reader with vivid descriptions of life on board and introduces them to the cast of colorful characters that made the trip happen. Their personal narratives are woven into the story and add depth and perspective. One of the most important figures is Vlad's wife Tatiana, without whose support the project would have faltered on the drawing board. She adds a chapter of her own to the book, and it is a beautifully written insight into her own personal misgivings about the campaign, and her voyage to freedom in the west. Vlad and Tatiana now live in the US, forsaking their homeland for pull of America and a life without limits. You will enjoy their story. It is told with candor and a hint of a Russian accent. Mostly you will be inspired to have adventures of your own, realizing that anything is possible if you just have the courage to dream.

This is one great book that touches one deeply. Emotions, drama, adventure, extreme sailing, danger, travel all over the world, and on the top of it all, Russia and Russian life from the unusual prospective. It is hard to put this book aside, it is a great story. I recommend it highly!

It seems like I set this book on my table and the pages started to turn by themselves. The book disappeared: I fell into a world of history, courage and bold determination. I held on to my chair as Fazisi pounded the waves. I felt as if I were trying to break out of Russia. Not only is this book a great around-the-world-race story, but it is filled with history. Yes, the tale is impossible, but it happened. I purchased more and sent them to friends who can't stop thanking me.

This is an amazing book about not only a journey to freedom, the race and strugle with nature. This is about a man who is showing that "impossible" is not always impossible. This book shows how one dream may become a true story.

Reading this book is like listening a story...pages just disappear...

Highly recommended to everybody!!!

Ola

Wow! Outstanding! Couldn't put it down. A thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable read. A "perfect storm" of suspense, emotion, drama, history, insight, and commentary -- all interwoven and doled out with impeccable literary finesse. The most engrossing first-person true story I've ever read. Not just for sailing enthusiasts, either. A magnificent tale of one man's courage, perseverance, creativity, and ultimate victory over a multitude of social, cultural, inter-personal, and natural challenges.

Vlad Murnikov is a true inspiration, a motivational force of nature. After reading this man's story, anyone with an unrealised dream in their life will have a strong new wind in their sails to help push them toward their goal.

Each page of this book brought on an adventure! The author does a great job of telling details of the story, so the reader can really feel what he was going through. This book is especially great for those interested in sailing-- as you can familiarize yourself with the various elements involved with the sport-- both beneficial and challenging. This real-life adventure is truly a gem.

This book combines Perfect Storm with Into Thin air. The story of how to beat the bureaucracy of the old Soviet system to get the project started; then handle the biggest challenge of raisng the capital to feed the machine,without knowing the capitalists system; to finally test Poseidon in the toughest sailing challenge on the planet!

On September 2, 1989, the sailing yacht "Fazisi" launched into the Whitbread Round the World Race and nautical history. She became the first every (and only) boat from the former Soviet Union to enter one of the most challenging and prestigious endurance races the world has to offer. Built in the Soviet Union, equipped with Western sails, rig and electronics, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola International, and co-captained by Skip Novak, the Fazisi bravely challenged the most treacherous waters on the planet. Author Vladislav Murnikov was the Fazisi's project manger and designer, and tells this remarkable and memorable story from a firsthand, eyewitness perspective. Race To Freedom is highly recommended for readers who appreciate true life adventure at its very best.

The blurb seemed to promise lots of prose devoted to the actual race, the thrill of adventure on the high seas, all the drama and tragedy that would come with it, and so on. Alas, I'd say only 20% of the book actually focused on the race itself; in fact retelling of the race doesn't even begin until around the halfway point, and the author was only present during two of the legs, so most of it is told in the third person. Most of the rest discusses the design of the boat, politics and fundraising, and some other various odds and ends. Still a good read, understand, but if you want a book about sailing to actually focus on the sailing this might not be quite what you are looking for. Even the actual sailing action is often described in a perfunctory matter-of-fact way, tho there is some drama here and there. But if you are mainly intrigued about all the struggles that a racing team had to struggle with to just get their yacht into the water, then you probably would enjoy it more than I did. Still recommended.