"They Went to Sea in a Sieve, They Did"

This entire race is incredibly interesting. Besides Crowhurst you had two people who had no sailing experience besides a quick lesson before setting out in boats completely unsuitable for the task, one guy who just seemed in it for a lark and ended up winning despite having an old and slow boat which should have had no chance, and the man who had little real competition and should have won but decided to just keep sailing instead of finishing the race.

A Voyage for Madmen is a great read about the race, as are Bernard Moitessier's and Robin Knox-Johnston's books about their experiences in the race (The Long Way and A World of my Own). There are some interesting books about Crowhurst but they are mostly conjecture and speculation since we don't have much to go on there and I ultimately felt A Voyage for Madmen essentially covered his story in a fraction of the space.