In November 1996, sixteen boats left France to circumnavigate the globe alone—without stopping and without assistance—through the world's most savage waters, the Southern Ocean. Over the next six months, each waged a solitary battle to stay alive against six-story waves, bone-chilling cold, ice-laden seas and their own physical and mental limitations.

Derek Lundy's brilliant storytelling takes us not only into the maritime action, but also the sailors' spirits. Our hearts race with one competitor as she struggles with raging seas searching for a missing rival, and we mourn with another as his forlorn, crippled ship fades from sight. Told with the mastery of Conrad and the intensity of minute-to-minute survival, this gripping tale is sure to appeal to blue-water and armchair adventurers alike.