Fastnet

Forty years ago - August, 1979, a rogue storm savaged the Fastnet Race fleet, wrecking boats and claiming the lives of 15 sailors. "Fingers" (Roger Vaughan) was on board the maxi Kialoa, owned by the late Jim Kilroy, an industrial real estate developer. Vaughan wrote briefly about his experience in an op-ed for the New York Times (9/2/79). An editor read it, and asked him to keep going, turn it into a book, giving him just three months. He did, taking the reader on board and focusing on how a near-death experience at sea effected various members of the crew, including himself.