The Sailing Spirit Meeting the BOC Challenge 9780770423469

"1989, paperback, 186pp, AS NEW John Hughes is a Canadian hero. At the age of twenty-six he was the youngest competitor ever to enter the arduous BOC Challenge -- an around-the-world solo yacht race that demands the best of the world's most experienced sailors. Hughes became the first Canadian to enter and finish this punishing race and his voyage has been called one of the most heroic of recent times. While fighting heavy winds in the strait of South America and Antarctica the mast of his 12 metre boat broke. In a stunning achievement, Hughes rigged a jury mast from the spinnaker poles, coffee cans and rages. Still, he crossed the finish line in Newport three days before the BOC's time line and was given the newly created "Spirit of the BOC" award which honours the competitor who best displays perseverance and sportsmanship. The Sailing Spirit is Hughes' personal account of the excitment, terror, setbacks and triumphs that were part of one of the most incredible journeys any man, on land or water, has experienced in modern history."