The Shipkiller

A sailing vessel, tight, steady well equipped in the midst of a transatlantic crossing, a couple in love, the beautiful wife tossing clothes aside and sashaying along the deck…What could go wrong? A super tanker bearing down at 26 knots answers the question, tragically dissolving the maritime idyll into pureed flotsam. Unfortunately for the monolithic vessel, the captain of said sailing vessel survives and this tragic collision serves as the catalyst which transforms Peter Hardin, erstwhile physician, into a monomaniacal one-man destruction machine. And so the confluence of malchance brings on a maelstrom of adventure and mayhem. A stately 27-year-old Nigerian doctor finds Hardin on the English shore and nurses the delirious castaway to health. She falls in love with the 43-year-old Hardin and they cast off the lines. Unbeknownst to his new female companion, Hardin has acquired an anti-tank missile with which to destroy the super tanker. It’s mad love and mad quest. Hoist the main and seal the hatches! They head south, capsize and pitchpole in a South Atlantic monster storm, refit in Capetown, and Hardin continues the pursuit solo. Bouts of madness, battles with sea snakes, dodging Iranian and Saudi attack vessels, a dalliance with the Mossad… there is no shortage of lethal obstacles to be overcome. The sailing mechanics, vessel details, weather and sea state observations are convincing and provide context traction. The pages keep turning, and Hardin, the indestructible, impresses with his superhuman stamina. After his vessel is ripped to pieces by machine gun fire then processed into micro confetti by super tanker prop blades, he escapes notice of swarming patrol vessels and attack helicopters and traverses the Red Sea by clinging unnoticed on to the rudder of an Arab dhow. Now how many days would he have been there clinging? The fact is it does not matter. The book had me laughing out loud and turning pages. For those willing to take all with a pinch or two of salt, this late 1970s thriller will not disappoint.

This book has been out of print for years but I have a precious copy. There are very few good sailing novels; I can count them on one hand. This is one, maybe the best. The story is set in 1978 and there are a few dated political threads to the story. The principle character is a doctor who has invented a digital thermometer and, with the money he has earned from royalties, decides to take a year off and cruise with his wife aboard their ketch. They cross to England where the sailboat is run down by a monster tanker and his wife is lost. He tries to get the law to punish the tanker as it was moving far too fast for the foggy conditions and not keeping a watch. Because it is so huge and the owners so powerful, he finds admiralty law is helpless. He decides to punish the ship himself. The action builds to a tremendous climax. The sailing is all absolutely authentic and every detail is accurate. I have sailed across oceans and will vouch for it. You will not put it down once it starts to build toward the climax.

This hero puts all previous heros to shame. He is tenacity personified. Shipkiller is the greatest tale of adventure, I have ever read!

It is a shame this book is out of print. Good modern sailing fiction is rare. The protagonist knows sailboats and carries out his revenge in an exciting and, more importantly, plausable tale. The book is a little dated in its treatment of the Iranians (It was written when the Shah ruled) but its best quality is its authenticity. A great read for sailors. Why must we go back to the 1800s for good sailing fiction ?

I've spent time on the ocean, and I've built sailboats. This book conveys the beauty, fear, and wonder of the ocean as well as any sailor's epitaph. The sorrow, joy, and hatred felt by the main character, and and the vengience with which he pursues his antagonist is riveting. My pulse raced for hours on end at the climax of the struggle.

As a seafaring man I can honestly say that this book has brought me closer to the Deep Blue Sea and the edge of excitement than anything else I have ever read.