About book Fatal Storm: The Inside Story Of The Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race (2000)
“FATAL STORM” by Rob Mundle (non-fiction)This book was re-released for the 10th anniversary of the tragic 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race that resulted in the deaths of 6 competitors, 55 sailors were rescued by vessel and helicopter and saw numerous boats retired, and 5 were sunk and lost forever. Of the 115 vessels entered only 44 finished the race, but Aspect Computing, crewed by sailors with a disability was one of them.As a sailor myself, perhaps it wasn’t the right time to read this book when setting out for a sailing holiday over the summer break, but then again, I seem to read all manner of disasters at sea while on our boat anyway!Rob Mundle is a sailor and was able to portray the history behind the race, the entered vessels and their crews, and the conditions throughout the duration of the race in such a compelling fashion that I felt like I was either on the rails of a boat or in the cockpit of the helicopter as I read.It was completely engrossing reading, but I was a little disappointed at times as different boats were mentioned in the story and I had to keep referring back to previous chapters to remind myself which person was on which boat etcetera. I realise that “Fatal Storm” was more about the critical events affecting those lives and boats that were most affected in the race, but it was a bit disappointing not to know how other named boats faired as well.His re-released work includes updates and interviews with several survivors and rescuers and how they have coped in the aftermath of this traumatic event. This version of “Fatal Storm” is a good addition to the library shelves, as one moment in Australian sporting history that has since shaped future rescue operations and preparations worldwide.
Fatal storm is a really good book because of it in depth insight into the horrible 1998 Rolex Sydney to Hobart and what happened that week. The book outlines how terrific that race was that year it tells you all about before the race, what happened during and the horrible aftermath of rescues and pronouncing people dead. The book includes a set of pages with horrific photos of the boats getting hammered into the water. The Author also writes about the weather of the race and how it impacted the fleet with cyclonic conditions of a steady 70knots and gusts over 60% higher, those were the ones that crushed the fleet. He also writes about what had happened the year before because most teams came back to do it the year after thinking it wouldn’t be a tragic race. He writes about the stats of what happened that race with five boats sinking and 6 lives lost, it was proved to be Australia's largest ever peacetime rescue operation and out of 115 starters only 44 finished safely. He has an insight of all the people that died even the whole team of Winston Churchill at went with their boat. Although there wasn’t much of a happy moment of the race Larry Ellison, Owner of Oracle skipper Sayonara to victory but sadly never came back to race the race.In conclusion this book had a very good insight into the race and sailors that want to learn more about the iconic Blue water classic would love to read this very thick book. So I rate this book 4 out of 5.
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Bored on a flight to Frankfurt, I gave this a go. Within twenty pages it was irritating me with its old fashioned world view, ultra sports bore mentality and Aussie "We are the greatest sporting and sailing nation on earth" bravado. It's also very old school and boorish. One scene summed it up as a bunch of "old boys" who entered the race felt it appropriate on the morning of the start to see the "youngsters" off by drinking longer in the bar than anyone else. Are we supposed to admire this in some way? Another irritant was his constant repetition of the phrase "Mother Nature was about to detonate a meteorological bomb above the Hobart seas", which would have been okay once, but not twice or three times. I persevered - I had nothing else to read - and it didn't improve. I usually like sailing reportage, but I couldn't get into this one.
—Jim
This is what I wrote about this book: on Sunday, July 29, 20078 out of 10Completed it last night. It took me a while to finish but that is also because I only read for 45 minutes at night.All my time went to The Tour de France or should I say Tour de Force (Rasmussen) :-( Anyways. I don't know anything about sailing. When I read this book I must admit it feels like another sport, like mountain climbing where people like to do dangerous sports and put there lives in jeopardy but don't think of the rescuers who have to save there asses. Let's call it a selfish sport.About the book. At first I thought it to be very confusing. So many names, of people on the boats, people that do the weather reports, people that rescue but after a while I started to get into it and really enjoyed reading it. How sad all those men died, especially for there loved ones.One thing I love reading Non Fiction is that you not only enjoy a good story but also learn new things.8.5
—♥ Marlene♥
Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race by Rob Mundle (International Maritime / MacGraw Hill 1999) (797.14) is one intense book; it’s about the niche world of high-stakes world-class yacht racing. This is an exciting and terrifying read. The author's description of the seas in the Southern Ocean scared the heck out of me, and I ain't afraid of nuthin'. If you liked The Perfect Storm and Into Thin Air, then you'll love this. I highly recommend it. My rating: 7.5, finished 2001.
—David
