A New History of Yachting Hardcover – August 18, 2017

This is a carefully researched and detailed, comprehensive history of [mainly] British yachting. Mike Bender is a really engaging writer, with a subtle wit and discerning eye for all sorts of important aspects of yachting. There are masses of details, as well as all sorts of reference resources. Mike has earned a Ph D in yachting history and/or literature from the University of Exeter and England, and it is more than well deserved. Some might think that that entails nothing more than reading a few texts and periodicals, but you will get a better appreciation for the depth and breadth of his research and writing if you consider that the very detailed bibliography is 37 pages and the index is 22 -- all in fairly fine print. This is not a book for the faint of heart and it is not a book that you should plan to plow through relentlessly although it is very readable. Rather (in my humble opinion) it is a book to dip into and read through a topic or a period of time, then taking some time to sit and ponder that for a bit before proceeding onwards. In fact, while reading about -- for instance offshore and ocean racing -- you might wish to compare that activity in different time periods, or you might wish to read about a specific race, or boat, and all the citations, foot notes, and reference material encourages one to proceed laterally as well as moving forward.I can't praise this book highly enough although I could wish that it also included American yachting. Perhaps he would like to earn an American Ph D -- perhaps at MIT - in conjunction with the Hart Nautical Museum...............

For those interested in how sailing has developed, and as importantly where the pastime is currently going, Mike Bender's near academic study makes an important contribution. The book looks in depth at the way we engage with sailing as society changes, and the period from the 1960's to the present day makes fascinating reading. His pessimistic conclusions on the future of leisure sailing are insightful, as we move into a world where ownership and slow relaxation ( two fundamental elements of leisure sailing over the last 50 years) are being replaced by a demand for many varying experiences, renting equipment and staying in touch). This is clearly going to be a classic and is up there with works such as Adlard Coles's Heavy Weather Sailing and Robin Knox Johnson's A World of My Own.

A work of serious scholarship with incredibly useful references. One could not begin to write anything about the history of yachting without checking this book first. As another reviewer has remarked, it is more or less confined to UK and Irish yachting.

Excellent reference to UK history of yachting.