Book Proposal

During the spring of 2000, I worked on a proposal for a book I tentatively titled Sailing and Racing High Performance Skiffs. The proposal was completed by July and was presented to agents and editors at the annual Pacific Northwest Writers Conference (PNWC). During the spring of 2001, I substantially revised the proposal for a new audience. The proposal was completed in March and submitted in the nonfiction book category for the annual PNWC literary contest where is has been judged a top-10 finalist. Heeding the advice of PNWA contest reviewers and a local agent, I've reworked this proposal to include more detailed information on marketing sailing related books nationally. The following is the overview of that proposal:

Synopsis

Imagine a wide, flat, open 16-foot-long boat with immense sails ripping through the water at 15 or more miles per hour. Both members of her crew are suspended with wires from the mast, only their feet in contact with the boat, and their bodies stretch out a mere 24 inches above the water. If the crew mistimes a single move or fails to anticipate a gust of wind they can suddenly lose control, flipping the boat into the air and themselves into the water. This is skiff racing, the subject of Shredding the Wind, a high-low book inclusion in an action sports series. Skiffs are high performance sailing dinghies that attain speeds two or three times greater than other small sailboats and require finely honed skills to master.

Shredding the Wind will be the first book that focuses on modern skiffs and the first to approach skiff sailing as an extreme sport. In taking this approach, the book has a ready-made audience of American teenagers. Shredding the Wind will bring skiff sailing to life for its readers, with descriptions and pictures of skiffs racing in international competitions, flying off wave-tops, and flipping upside down if their crews make the slightest mistake. It will provide a historical context and details about skiffs and skiff sailing that will allow readers to appreciate the skill and excitement of skiff racing. Photographs and diagrams will be used to illustrate the equipment and the sailing and racing concepts described. A glossary of sailing-specific terms used in the text will be provided at the end of the book. It will contrast skiff racing with the other types of dingy racing that have been in the Olympics for years, showing why skiff racing offers more exciting and spectacular events for both participants and spectators. Finally, it will provide information about how and where to begin to learn skiff sailing. An appendix will list organizations supporting skiff sailing and racing and provide web site or postal addresses for them.