Conceived by a lumberman-sailor, drawn by a young and then-untested designer, and built of spruce on a Bahamian beach in 1968, the 73’ ocean-racing maxi-yacht WINDWARD PASSAGE had an improbable rise to stardom during her twenty-year racing career. When he first laid eyes on her soon after her completion, the legendary designer Olin Stephens called the yacht “a masterpiece.” In the ensuing years, WINDWARD PASSAGE and her crews roamed the planet, winning the world’s major ocean races and attracting legions of admirers and competitors. She continues today, stronger and swifter than built, as a world-cruiser.

Randall Peffer, who profiled WINDWARD PASSAGE for WoodenBoat magazine in 2021, has now written a book-length biography of the storied ocean racer. For that effort, he was joined by the southern California yachting photographer Steve Jost and book designer Ronald Geisman, to produce a lavish, high-quality, hard-cover volume published in association with WoodenBoat.