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Kirkus Book Review

Weld won the 1980 Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race (OSTAR) from Plymouth (UK) to Newport (US)--breaking the record, at age 65, with his time (just under 18 days) and becoming the first American winner ever. Why did he win? Good winds, partly. But also because his trimaran Moxie, an unpowered yacht with two outer floats, was fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment: an Autohelm 3000 electric autopilot; a new satellite signaler that transmitted the position of everyone else in the race every day; his new ""geriatric"" Stoway mainsail which cranks in and out of a long metal tube on the mast so that he can adjust to the finest winds without going through elaborate and tiring efforts; and electronic weather-watchers. Weld recalls the journey in detail here--his sleeping/eating habits, his mid-voyage memories of an ill-fated 1976 crossing (rogue waves) and earlier failures. And he reaffirms his love for trimarans (""Voyaging at speed becomes addictive. Once you've knocked off a week of 220-mile days, there's just no going back to a 150-mile average"") while also telling how he got the Moxie soft-drink company as his nominal sponsor. (He bought stock in their company, which sank despite his win.) A personable re-enactment, then--but without the crises, problems, and derring-do needed to attract an audience beyond the yachting-yarn regulars. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.