Author(s): WILSON / PEARSON

New Books | Adventure | Sailing

Watched by millions of people around Australia and worldwide every year on Boxing Day, the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is a 628 nautical mile passage into the depths of the southern ocean’s Roaring Forties that pushes sailors, organisers and at times, search and rescue personnel, to the limit of their mental and physical endurance. Over 520 beautifully illustrated pages, photographer and storyteller Andrew Wilson, with journalist and Race Media Director Di Pearson, present Blue Water Classics: Portraits of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – a compelling and intimate publication with over 40 personal accounts from owners, crew, officials and search and rescue personnel that are filled with all the drama and emotion tied into attempting to win ‘the Hobart’.

This new book on Australia's most famous blue water classic, the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, will become a collector's item for anyone who has an interest in the race. Participants and spectators alike will revel in photographer Andrew Wilson's amazing array of intimate portraits of some of the absolute legends of the race, including owners, crew, administrators and even the odd journalist. Backed by extensive interviews from journalist and race media manager Di Pearson, who probably knows more about the race than anyone else alive, this is a book that examines the people who make the race. It is not about the boats.

As David Kellett AM says in the foreword, "Andrew has covered all aspects of the race from the preparation to the finish and everything in between, including the personalities involved in the control of the race, the safe haven of Eden and the officers of the vital search and rescue organisations. A great insight into what goes on behind the scenes each year."

If you have competed in the race, are planning to in the future, or if you just love great stories about people doing exceptional things under difficult conditions, then you will love this book.

It packs an enormous amount of content and some truly remarkable photographs into its 520 pages. It is a book you can immerse yourself in for days on end. All the adrenaline and drama of the great race is here - the heroes, the villains, the folklore and everything in between. Settle in for one of the best yachting reads of your life.

AUTHOR/PHOTOGRAPHER
Andrew Wilson is a Tasmanian based professional photographer who specialises in portraiture, food and storytelling photography. His previous publications include Old Sea Dogs of Tasmania Books 1 and 2, and Coast – Tasmania with a few more still to come.