Roger Vaughan
Choptank Word Bank
Author’s note:
Welcome to my reissue of FASTNET, ONE MAN’S VOYAGE, about the 1979 Fastnet Race originally published in 1980. It is reissued on the 40th anniversary of that most famous Fastnet Race during which a vicious storm crippled the fleet of over 300 boats. Fifteen sailors perished.
I was on board the maxi, Kialoa, fulfilling an assignment to write about the boat’s owner, Jim Kilroy. The perilous nature of the event – what evolved as a journey to the edge of disaster – caused my report to become a more comprehensive picture of how people in such a dire situation react, and what they contemplate.
Not a word has been changed from the original book. I thought about rewriting parts of it, making a few changes, adding a few updates, possibly cutting a few inflammatory bits, but I ended up being convinced it is important to maintain the book as a period piece that reflects the politics, the culture, and the state of affairs at the time it was written.
Available at Amazon.com
Roger Vaughan
Oxford, Maryland
2019
