I cannot recommend 'The Long Way' by Bernard Moitessier & 'The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst' highly enough. Both books cover how 2 contestants in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race could have won but did not, for rather interesting/different reasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Times_Golden_Globe_Race

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Moitessier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst