The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst: Now Filmed As The Mercy

This is the fascinating, almost unbelievable true story of Donald Crowhurst, who, in 1968, entered the English Sunday Times-sponsored race around the world to crown the winner with the fastest time. The catch? You must go solo and cannot stop, accepting help from no one. Everyman Crowhurst, a brilliant electronics inventor, engineer and amateur sailor, enters in the hopes of winning fame and glory. His magnetic personality, salesmanship and the scope of this dreams capture the imagination of the press, a patron and the public, who rally behind him.But it unravels, and because of the success of his publicity campaign, Crowhurst finds he cannot back out at the 11th hour. With myriad mechanical and technical problems, he sets out on October 31, 1968, woefully unprepared, the last of nine skilled entrants. Crowhurst devises a scheme to try to stay in the race, salvage his name, and escape bankruptcy. But, as in The Perfect Storm, nothing could prepare him for the sudden changes in the race, and the ultimate outcome.This is an incredibly well written, well researched book. I read in the Notes that the authors even were able to dispute the findings of the Times! They set the story right, and by shedding light on Crowhurst’s severe physical and mental pressure, and his state of mind as it deteriorates throughout the story, almost inadvertently bringing us to feel compassion for this real life Walter Mitty. Crowhurst, like so many others in history, set himself against the elements and himself in the harshest of environments, isolation being one of the cruelest, but unlike so many others, ran out of luck, and became victim of his own dreams, lack of planning and lack of time.What makes this story so compelling is the complete shocker and game changer of how the race unfolded. I first came across this story when watching the documentary Deep Water, which is excellent. I also just watched The Mercy, with Collin Firth, just released last year. Both are good, but this book is superb. I could not put it down and finished it in two nights. There is enough blame to go around in the story, from Crowhurst himself, to even his wife’s submission to his outlandish dream, to the money- and ego-hungry press agent, to even the public, which always wants a hero, at any cost. The authors skillfully avoid all such judgment, and simply invite us to know better this unique and complex man, who had dreams like so many, and who took a daring, and incalculable risk. The story will haunt you. This is a classic, incredible story, extremely well told.

This was a great read. Though written about 40 years ago it reads as very contemporary, and in this edition there is an afterword by Robin Knox-Johnston, the only person to actually finish the race. Like the authors, he's not to quick to leap to judgment of Donald Crowhurst.If you saw, and liked, the 2006 documentary Deep Water (find it on a popular video hosting site) you'll enjoy this more. It has much more detail, especially of Crowhurst's life leading up to the sailing race (he had more experience on boats than the film led us to believe) and in particular on the preparations for the race. It's hard to escape the conclusion that he'd have made it had he been better prepared, though of course his boat and its structural integrity were always another issue.Anyway, I can thoroughly recommend this book. As much as I could, I read it basically in one sitting. That is, when I wasn't at work, I was racing through this book.

In 1968, a London newspaper, inspired by recent feats of daring in the world of sailing, sponsored a contest that offered a trophy and large cash prize to the first person to successfully complete a solo, non-stop and unaided circumnavigation of the globe in a sailboat. This book is the morbidly fascinating story of one of the participants, Donald Crowhurst, a talented amateur sailor and electronics entrepreneur, who announced that he would build the world's most technologically advanced boat, including a first-of-its-kind on-board computer of his own design, and take the prize.While sailing buffs will like this book, the real meat of it is in the look at human nature that it provides. Like many entrepeneurs, Crowhurst was a bit of a blowhard who ended up departing just hours before the deadline in a boat that had never been tested and with which he was totally unfamiliar. Busy with race preparations, he never built, much less installed, the much-publicized computer. Feeling certain he could make up time as he became more familar with the craft, Crowhurst began to tell "little white lies" in his sporadic radio communications (remember, there was no GPS back then -- the yachtsmen were truly on their own).As his problems with the boat mounted, Crowhurst conceived an elaborate hoax to make the world believe he was on track to complete the race, maybe even win it all. For months he sailed around the South Atlantic, alone and increasingly desperate, monitoring radio communications about weather and constructing a fake ship's log and fake documentation that showed his supposed progress day-by-day. In the spring of 1969, when Crowhurst reestablished radio contact with his agent and family back in Britain, he learned a shocking truth. He was the only yachtsman still in the race. With all the others out of it, he had become a national celebrity, and a huge welcome was planned.At this point, the audacious hoax turned tragic. It appears from his journals that Crowhurst suffered a complete mental breakdown in the week that followed. It was too late to confess or backtrack on his claims without complete humiliation; yet as the winner and only man still in the race, he was sure to be exposed as a cheat. A few days after his last journal entry, Crowhurst's boat was found abandoned and drifting in the Atlantic by another ship. He had left all the evidence of his hoax neatly arranged for the world to find.Crowhurst is an unsympathetic character to read about, but by the end it was hard not to feel compassion in spite of everything he did. This book is much more than a reconstruction of his mysterious death. The authors invite the reader to think about the deficiencies in the heart and soul that lead human beings to lie and scheme, in spite of the inevitable disastrous results. Why is it so hard for people to be honest? And why is it these very people who lie and scheme who often attempt great things, while the honest people sit on the sidelines?Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"

Fascinating story about a man and his desire to make a mark in the world. I watched "Deep Water," the movie about Mr. Crowhurst, several times, and gained greater insight into this brave man by reading the book. Yes, I write BRAVE; some people might think him foolhardy, but I think he was a brave man who did not fully understand what he was getting himself into. He was apparently a bright, intelligent man who got in over his head. A fool he was not, and I do not think he meant to be dishonest, although that was the way his voyage turned out to be: dishonest, fraudulent. A brave man, yet he ended up being a fraud... He knew that, and that is why he committed suicide... Sad ending to a good man's life.My heart goes out to his wife and children.

An utterly extraordinary tale of heroism, courage and despair, centred around the flawed genius of the title character – an entrepreneur, inventor and sailor whose ambitions run away with him.The author’s build the picture of Donald Crowhurst’s life as one of confidence and dedication in the lead up the round the world race, expostulating grand designs for his yacht and equipment, and explore his emotions and deteriorating state of mind during the long solo voyage which eventually leads to a sad conclusion.I was mesmerised by the story, his character, and the people involved and interwoven into the narrative.This is the story of one of those points in real life where you can see what is happening and yet are powerless to do anything about – and this is the secret of the book’s readability.

I know nothing about sailing or boats & my most immersive experience of the water was being knocked off a kayak by a wave, just a few metres from the beach. But I found this book well written & compelling. I didn’t understand various technical points, but it is enough that Tomalin explores with great fluency & clarity all aspects of the the voyage from the (perhaps unrealistic) ambitions & complex character of Crowhurst, the pitfalls consequent upon the rushed preparations,resulting in an unfinished & possibly unsuitable boat, & the mixture of bad luck & bad judgement, which lead to the extraordinary sequence of events which comprised this voyage & its aftermath.An absolute page turner: the best novels are often character lead, but this is no fiction. You couldn’t make it up.

I'd only got a rough idea of what this story was about, so was looking forward to reading it in full. And I'm very glad I did as I was able to change my previous feelings about the voyage of Donald Crowhurst and to understand the usual spin put on his journey isn't entirely accurate. No spoilers from me - this book has done a fabulous job of providing good research and converted into something that landlubbers can appreciate too.I also saw the film after reading the book which really doesn't do it justice. Read the book, don't watch the film, as I know that most of the good stuff would be on the cutting room floor leaving the viewer confused and missing the poignancy of the truth.

This was a very interesting read, and having watched the equally good 'Deep Water', I had a fair understanding of the context. It is the narrative of a dreamer who decided to live out his dream by entering the Sunday Times, Round the World Non-Stop sailing race. Unfortunately, Crowhurst was at best an enthusiastic amateur, rather that a competent seaman. The book describes the almost painful level of his inadequacy, best exemplified when his initial 3 day journey to the start point at Teignmouth took 3 weeks. The narrative honestly follows the emotional thread which moves from outward bravado, through the quiet desperation of a daily struggle with the elements, the realisation that his mission is futile, the attempt to falsify his position and finally the journey into madness. It is the story of human frailty as part of the human condition and as such it is pertinent and profound reading.

Very well told story, reads like fiction, but is far from it. The last chapter or so went into too much detail about his final diary entries. I speed read through that section, but loved the rest. An unfortunate man, a genius of course but also very selfish, undiciplined and deluded. Felt more sorry for his family and friends. There is a very good TV documentary called Deep Waters that presents a lot of the video/audio that was made by Donal Crowhurst and includes interviews with family and friends.