An invigorating behind-the-scenes look at the world of extreme sailing, The Race is also a taut, engrossing account of the first running of the competition called The Race, which began on December 31, 2000, in Barcelona and ended sixty-two days later in Marseilles. The most intense event of its kind -- a nonstop circumnavigation of the globe in the fastest boats ever built -- The Race attracts some of the world's best sailors and arguably its most eccentric personalities. Tim Zimmermann, an experienced blue-water sailor, relates in knuckle-whitening detail how and why sailors risk millions of dollars and their lives to dash around the world in record time. He garnishes this story with a chronicle of the tumultuous history of extreme sailing from the nineteenth century to today. Zimmermann "puts the reader right on board with the tough, colorful crews as they take a crash course (sometimes literally) in how to handle these astonishing machines" (Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea).