Woman Alone

Woman Alone is a sailors story of courage and adventure. But Woman Alone is also a woman's story - a dramatic account of an epic voyage by a superb young British sailor. Standing five feet two and weighing little more than a hundred pounds, Clare Francis was one out of four women competitors in the 1976 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race. This is her very personal account of that race, a grueling contest that boasted a record number of competitors, claimed two lives, and was sailed in "dirty weather" almost from shore to shore. Although 37 sailors were forced to retire, Clare Francis sailed her 38-foot sloop, Robertson's Golly, from Plymouth, England, to Newport, Rhode Island, in 29 days, finishing thirteenth overall. During that passage, she survived mountain the seas and violent gales, two weeks continuous fog, and a near-miss between two massive icebergs. Numbed and with fatigue, she often wondered why she was there; Woman Alone goes a long way toward explaining why small boat sailors, female or male, risk their lives on long ocean voyages. Clare Francis, who was born in Surrey, England, began sailing at the age of five. She received her secondary education at the Royal Ballet School and later studied economics at University College, London. She gave up a marketing career and the city for a life of travel and adventure when she bought Gulliver G, and first sailed the Atlantic singlehanded. Since then she has successfully competed in the Round Britian Race, the Azores and Back Race, and the L'Aurore Singlehanded Race.