A book has been published about the sinking of the Tauranga-based yacht Essence in a storm off the Northland coast in October 2019 in which the skipper, Stuart Pedersen, died.

Written by Bruce Goodwin, one of the three survivors of the tragedy, it is an expanded version of the story which we serialised in the August and September 2020 editions of Boating NZ under the headline Anatomy of a Rescue.

Any profits from sales of the book will be donated to the Bay of Plenty Sailing Academy Trust, of which Stuart Pedersen had been the chairman, and for which Bruce Goodwin is a volunteer instructor. The academy provides sail training to children and teenagers, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, who otherwise could not afford it.

Says Bruce: “I initially started to write down my account of, and reflections on, the sinking because I thought it might help me get through the psychological and emotional turmoil that followed.

“Then I realised that, although I considered myself an experienced ocean sailor, I learned a lot of lessons from the event which might be useful to other sailors. So, with the encouragement of some sailing mates, I decided to make them available in book form.

“If in the process we can honour Stuart’s memory by helping the academy to continue the fantastic mission which he did so much to support, so much the better.”