Wind Star: The Building of a Sailship

A detailed account of the building of the first commercial sailship in seventy-five years, from the early planning stages to the ship's actual construction in France

For those who love the sea, ex-New York Times writer Novitski here details the origins and realization of the first commercial sailing ship built in 75 years. The opening chaptersabout Finland's Aland Islands and shipbuilder-entrepreneur Karl Andren, and about the last days of the great sailshipswill be of interest to general readers, but when Novitski moves on to detail the Wind Star's constructionits hull, masts and sailsonly the initiated will stay on course. The interplay of personalities is well limned, however, particularly between the Norwegian sailors, instinctive and romantic seamen, and the French technical experts, Cartesian rationalists all, and between the engineers and the interior designers, a clash of technology and art. Wind Star, launched in 1986, sails out of Miami.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Novitski, a sailor and writer for the New York Times , begins with a chronicle of the age of sailing and then takes us through the design and construction of a modern-day vessel. Wind Star was intended as the first of a new breed of cruise ship, a four-masted schooner capable of being handled by a small crew and built with a computer-controlled rig. There were many technical problems to overcome; many obstacles and disagreements between the owner and the yard; and a frantic rush to finish the ship on time. Not until the very end of the book do we set sail with Wind Star on her maiden voyage to Miami. A fine account of shipbuilding techniques and a good story of interest to most public libraries. John Kenny, San Francisco P.L.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.