The Proving Ground

In this 10th Anniversary edition, with a new afterword from the author, G.Bruce Knecht tells the harrowing story of a world-renowned sailing race gone fatally bad.

On December 26, 1998, 115 sailboats crossed the starting line of the famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The 630-nautical-mile contest is among the most difficult races in the world, a test of strength and endurance like few others. But no one could have foreseen the tragedy that would befall the competitors, who sailed into a massive storm that tore apart the fleet with hurricane-force winds and eighty-foot waves. What began as a race for glory rapidly became a fight for survival. In this gripping insider’s account, award-winning writer G. Bruce Knecht focuses on three yachts and their crews, weaving together an extraordinary story with vivid detail, outsized personalities, and high drama. Most importantly, he offers a glimpse into how people with very different backgrounds responded to something bigger than they were—and how it changed them forever. Hailed as “harrowing” by the New York Times, “pulse-pounding” by People magazine, and “the Perfect Storm of blue-water sailboat racing” by Walter Cronkite, The Proving Ground is a true-to-life adventure tale as thrilling as any work of fiction.

After earning his MBA at Harvard, Bruce Knecht began writing for The Wall Street Journal in New York, where he covered the banking and publishing industries before he became a Hong Kong-based foreign correspondent. He is an avid sailor who has written for Conde Nast Traveler, The Atlantic Monthly, and the Journal.