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Mingming and the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing - Published by the Fitzroy Press

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Mingming and the Art of Minmal Ocean Sailing Book Review

Trail Testers Recommended 100%

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SRP - £9.99

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Ming Ming and the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing is the second book from Roger Taylor and follows on from Voyages of a Simple Sailor, which was so well received.

Whether you know anything about sailing or not, this book is a fascinating read from cover to cover and details the expeditions that Roger makes in his 21 foot junk rigged sloop Ming Ming.

He sails this game little boat from Scotland to Jan Mayen Island and up to the Greenland sea ice, then south by way of Rockall to the temperate waters of the Azores.

The book details how Roger adapted his standard Corribee sloop, more used to sailing quiet creeks and estuaries, into an ocean going little ship, able to cope with the worst of the Atlantic weather.

Roger has incorporated many of the lessons that he learnt during the grounding and sinking of the bark Endeavour 11 on the North East shore of New Zealand, which he describes in Voyages of a Simple Sailor, into making Ming Ming as seaworthy as she is.

For instance, he has built in foam insulation and foam buoyancy to make his boat unsinkable and has done away with the sliding hatch and washboards, used by most cruising boats and replaced these with a lockable watertight hatch.

ISBN-10: 0955803519 ISBN-13: 978-0955803512

back safely without incident, to the warmth and safety of the little cabin. This is an excellent read and comes well recommended.

The book is published in A5 format and runs to 376 pages including many of the authors photographs which are printed in black and white to help the environment and supported by colour images on The Simple Sailor web site. A sample of which are published here with the author’s permission.

Inside the boat he has lined the insulation with carpet to help him keep warm, though as he approached Greenland he could have done with a heater as well!

In the same vein as those of us who carry all our equipment on our backs, as we hike, trek or climb into the mountains, Roger has made the tiny cabin of Ming Ming both comfortable and functional.

His is not the sort of boat that you find in glossy yachting magazines, but is a well honed tool to take him far and wide in a modicum of comfort with the knowledge that she is as safe as he can make her and will, with luck bring him home again.

He is able to sleep, read, cook, wash and navigate inside the small cabin. Further he has fitted a whipstaff steering arrangement, so during the odd times that his self steering gear cannot cope, or in the event that this is damaged in a storm, he can steer by hand, from inside the cabin. This means that he can steer and stay warm and dry at the same time, something that many sailors probably wish they could do, when standing cold wet watches.

The text is well illustrated with maps and photographs and the reader is immersed in Roger’s private world as he expertly sails Ming Ming all the way to the treacherous Greenland Ice field.

Not all goes according to plan however and the little yacht is at times becalmed with barely a ripple on the water and at other times is tossed around in storm ravaged seas.

Unlike other junk rigged boats, Ming Ming carries a small jib to help her tack through the wind and make a little more speed. This requires Roger to put on his waterproofs and safety harness and leave the warmth and safety of the cabin to reef and stow the sail. He has to clamber up through the hatch and carefully pick his way along the narrow side deck just inches from the foaming sea, onto the wet and slippery foredeck, a risky business at best.

For reader and skipper alike it was always a relief when he made it

Above: A pod of Pilot Whales, just an arms length away, joined Ming Ming as she headed North, East of Iceland.

Below: Roger and Ming Ming encounter a severe storm West of Rockall.