Temple to the Wind is as expertly crafted as Nathanael Herreshoff's epic America's Cup yacht Reliance. A riveting account of an enigmatic genius and the yacht race that was once as big as today's Super Bowl, Christopher Pastore's new book will fascinate sailors and landlubbers alike. --Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory Temple to the Wind is an intriguing study of the legendary Captain Nat, his colleagues, his competitors and the designs he crafted leading up to the largest of them all, Reliance. In the process, author Chris Pastore has compiled a revealing image of yacht racing for the America's Cup as it existed a century and more ago. --John Burnham, editor, Sailing WorldReliance was exotic, fast, a marvel of engineering and frightening. Only a master designer/builder could make such a yacht work, in fact, excel. Christopher Pastore has meticulously researched this astounding American triumph. I learned something new on every page! --Gary Jobson, tactician, ESPN's sailing commentator, and author of Winning America's Cup After conducting exhaustive research in America and Britain, Christopher Pastore has made the Reliance story even more remarkable and strange than I ever thought. One of the very few sailboats that deserve the label 'icon,' Reliance was the largest boat to sail for the America's Cup, and (until recently) the largest racing sloop ever built. Paid for by secretive millionaires, created by the mysterious Nat Herreshoff, and commanded by the diminutive and ruthless Charlie Barr, this was the highest-tech, the most fragile, and the best boat of her day - America's only hope to hold off Sir Thomas Lipton in his fanatical desire to win the Cup. How Reliance fulfilled that hope despite many obstacles is the stuff of Pastore's wonderful new book. --John Rousmaniere, author of In a Class by Herself: The Yawl Bolero and the Passion for Craftsmanship; Sleek; Fastnet, Force 10; The Annapolis Book of Seamanship; The Golden PastimeAn excellent, close-up view of the world of big yachts as sailing moved into the twentieth century. --Olin Stephens, eight-time America's Cup-winning naval architect and author of All This, and Sailing TooReaders will know from the start that Reliance will win the race, but they will want to be onboard all the way.--Booklist A fascinating read.--Latitudes & Attitudes
