Spindrift Racing publishes two books

Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, a unique couple in sport, formed Spindrfit racing in 2011 and the team has developed into a team of reference in international sailing.
Driven by a desire to share their sailing adventures with the wider general public and younger generation, they place enormous emphasis on sport, human endeavour, technology and innovation.
This winter sees the fifth anniversary of French-based team and two books have been published to mark the occasion and relive some of the team’s key moments.
 
The first is a richly illustrated photographic book that looks back over the team’s first five years and their accomplishments.  It brings together the passion, adventure, sport, art and nature that underline the team’s formative years.

The second book is Dona Bertarelli’s personal logbook written in the winter of 2015/16 while she was competing onboard the world’s largest trimaran, Spindrift 2, during the team’s Jules Verne Trophy attempt.  This very personal account brings together her onboard blogs and unpublished images that retrace the 47 days voyage that made her the fastest woman to have sailed around the world.

The images are staggering. A crew of men and one woman, racing at Mach 2 speeds on multiple hulls, clinging on precariously as the boat heels, their faces creased with salt and fatigue, arms raised in victory, the boat in continual motion - a high-tech machine controlled by human power.
 
To begin with there were just two - Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard, a unique couple in the world of sport, and in 2011 they created Spindrift racing as a professional sailing team.
Over the past five years, they and their team of sailors have taken part in the world’s biggest sailing events, and tackled some of the most prestigious records. They have given their all, become a team of reference and shared their stories. Like the prevailing winds and currents, the team has grown, braved storms and engaged in challenges. From its founding to today, Dona and Yann have created an incredible maritime odyssey. Their story is beautifully captured by a group of talented photographers that bring an almost salty taste of the ultimate adventure to every reader. 

Dona Bertarelli has undertaken the most difficult challenge in the sport of sailing: the Jules Verne Trophy. This legendary race around the world is open to any type of craft, provided that is propelled solely by the wind and crew. This ultimate challenge, first made famous by Jules Verne in Around the World in 80 Days, offers a journey around the world’s three great Capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) - a circumnavigation of some 21,760 nautical miles (40,000 km).
 
The only woman among thirteen men Dona reveals in this very personal story, the reality of sailing onboard the world’s largest offshore trimaran.  With honesty and emotion, she takes the reader on a journey and shares her life aboard Spindrift 2 - the weeks without comfort, sleepless nights, freeze-dried food, cold and being apart from her three children.
 
But also she talks about the relationship that develops between the crew.  The solidarity, mutual support and friendship of the fourteen people who live together during the 47 days at sea in a confined space and where feelings of elation and joy, face those of doubt, stress and frustration. The images that punctuate the text plunge us into rough seas and extreme weather experienced during the record attempt enriching it with a sense of the sea, cold and teamwork.

Dona Bertarelli is a businesswoman, philanthropist and sailor.  She is the co-founder and skipper of Spindrift racing, whose multihull team is based in La Trinité-sur-Mer, Brittany.