IN A CLASS BY HERSELF: THE YAWL BOLERO A Format: Hardcover

Not only is Bolero "the best of her class" (as someone said of her), but she was created and restored by a diverse company of people who were the best of their classes. Bolero is one of those cultural heirlooms that is constantly being rediscovered in ways that would astonish even her creators, and her story is of a vast and varied world of laughter and tears, triumph and failure. The same boat that was featured in Time magazine and broke a Bermuda Race record was nearly wrecked on Cape Hatteras and, only 15 years ago, was rotting away in a Florida canal. Today, magnificently restore, she again wins races and turns heads, just as she did upon her launch in 1949.

John Rousmaniere has sailed in over 35,000 miles of offshore voyaging and racing. He crewed on the 48-foot "Toscana" in the fateful Fastnet Race of 1979.