Racing the World s Most Dangerous Waters Godforsaken Sea is the hair-raising account of the world s most demanding， dangerous， and deadly sailing race. Around the world， one sailor， one boat， no stops， no assistance. Author Derek Lundy s vivid book follows the field of the 1996 - 1997 Vendee Globe through the race s grueling four-month circumnavigation of the globe， most of it through the terror of the Southern Ocean. Lundy narrates the race through the eyes and experiences of sixteen sailors - fourteen men and two women - who embdoy the best and most eccentric aspects of our human condition. There s the gallant Brit who spends days beating back against the worst seas to save a fellow sailor; the Frenchman who bothers to salvage only a bottle of champagne from his broken and sinking boat; the sailor who comes to love the albatross that trails her for months， naming it Bernard; the sailor who calmly smokes a cigarette as his boat capsizes; and the Canadian who， hours before he disappears forever， dispatches this message: If you drag things out too long here， you re sure to come to grief. With the literary touch of Saint-Exupery and Conrad， Derek Lundy harnesses hurricane-force winds， six story waves， icebergs， and deafening noise. And he lays bare the spirit of the men and women who push themselves to the outer limits of human endeavor - even if it means never returning home.