There is something different about adventurers; about the way their minds work. They look at the world as a place of challenges and though they know what fear is, they refuse to be hindered by it.

‘Inspiring, personal and heartfelt’ HERALD SUN
‘A simple yet addictive narrative . . . stirring stuff’ COURIER-MAIL

On 15 May 2010, after 210 days at sea and 24,285 nautical miles, sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson sailed her yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady, triumphantly back into Sydney Harbour. She had become the youngest person to sail solo, unassisted and non-stop around the world, writing her name in the mostly male-dominated record books.

With a major feature film soon to be released, this book, told in Jessica’s own words, shares with us her childhood, her dyslexia, her inspiration, her years of planning and her preparation. While many doubted her, she tells how a disaster at the very start gave her the confidence she needed to set sail. Taking us onboard the day-to-day of the journey and disclosing her battle with sleep deprivation, gale-force winds, forty-foot waves and several knockdowns that saw the boat’s mast go beneath the water, Jess reveals how she coped with the solitude, alone on a vast sea with no land to be seen and no help close at hand, to conquer the Everest of sailing.

True Spirit is an inspiring memoir that proves that we all have the power to live our dreams – no matter how small or how big they are.

• 367 p., [24] p. of plates : col. ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.
• Watson, Jessica, 1993-
• Women sailors — Australia — Biography
• Sailing — Records — Australia
• Yachting — Australia
• Voyages around the world
• Ocean travel
• Australian Book Industry Awards, General Non-Fiction Book of the Year, winner, 2011.
• #260224