Under Enemy Colors (59 page)

This book, two years in the writing and many more in planning, would never have come into being without the help of many people. I’d like to thank my friends John and Francine, who put their many years and thousands of miles of sailing experience at my disposal and read the manuscript with great care. Many thanks to John Harland for his painstaking reading of the manuscript and for putting his encyclopedic knowledge at my disposal; any mistakes, however, are mine. For the French translations I have to thank author Margo McLoughlin and author and translator Guillaume Le Pennec (who so ably translated several of my previous books into French). My agent, Howard Morhaim, read numerous drafts and, as always, gave me the benefit of his insight. I thank my editors in New York and London, Dan Conaway and Alex Clarke, for their fantastic enthusiasm and constant support. Last, but first in my heart, I thank my wife, Karen, for her support and for all of her intelligent feedback on this book from inception through to final copy. I couldn’t have done it without you, darling.