READERS LOVE IT - COMMENTS ARE GREAT!

Thank you to all who have shared your thoughts!

Bill, absolutely fantastic! You got so many facts exactly right. Congratulations, I loved the book! Hank Easom

I just finished a book that I want to share with you. But you can't borrow my copy!!!! This great book, we can all relate to because of the subject matter, sailboat racing. The legend of imp is about racing and friends made along the way, experiences shared, and legends made, in our case on a local level at the VERY best!!! The story is great. Not unlike the stories we all tell about the sailing times we have shared, but told much better! I laughed, hollered, and shed tears while reading it. The best sailing book I've read. Now, I'd let you borrow mine, but then Barton wouldn't make the money he deserves for writing such a classic.

Buy it. But don't loan it out. Tim Hill

Wow, what a great read! I was 17 in ’77 and was just starting to get my first “big boat” rides in SoCal. imp pictures were plastered all over my bedroom wall. You guys motivated me to set some goals that year for myself. They were to compete in the SORC, Transpac, Sardinia Cup, Australia Cup, Cong. Cup and Admiral’s Cup. The latter I considered the Holy Grail. Was very lucky and got to do all of them at least once except for the Admiral’s Cup…maybe Cowes Week someday. Thanks for putting all of it to paper so the rest of us could enjoy imp too. Rich Matzinger

Bill, thanks for autographing my copy of your book! I really enjoyed looking through it and reminiscing. Ted Turner
 
I want to introduce myself and commend you on the book The Legend of Imp, which I think is a terrific read!

Thanks and regards. Tom Stephenson

(note to friend and imp regular Skip Steveley)… Skip, I got a copy of The Legend of Imp and had to reach out and say hi.  I'm only on page 20, but am really enjoying it. I wonder if Bill Barton fully understands the impact his book is having?  I owe him a thank you for causing me to reach out to you. The legend of imp DOES live on! My fondest regards. Dave Clark
 
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed The Legend of imp.  Thanks for telling the story.  For years I have been searching for detailed information on the boats and characters of that era (IOR boats of the 70s and early 80s, (the "Golden Age" of yacht racing).  Your book is, by far, the best I have found.  And thanks for sharing your compelling and inspiring personal journey.   It's a great example of the good things that happen when you "follow your bliss." Pat Tarmey 

Bill, what a work of scholarship! Exciting, but I liked the story of Bill Barton finding his way in the world best. Bill Avery

Bill, your book is wonderful. Congratulations! What a gift to the world and what an accomplishment! Donna Calimpong

I received my copy of The Legend of imp and read it in one sitting … absolutely terrific! Robb Walker

I am really enjoying The Legend of imp. It is exciting, nostalgic, poetic, informative and well written. Congratulations on a very successful publication! David Barton

Great read!!!! You guys really were a super group, kind of like the great rock bands of the 70s. It was amazing to read how infrequently your super group avoided trouble handling the boat while going balls to the wall, particularly in the 1979 Fastnet Race. Small wonder the boat was so successful. Steve Prime

Bill, I just finished LEGEND of IMP and have to say what a stirring, moving, and memorable story you have crafted. Like yourself at times, I am deeply moved reliving our story.  Hell, its much of the story of the middle of my life. "Did that really happen?" I found myself thinking, sometimes shivering, in each chapter. Yes Sir, it did. I am proud to have been a part. Thank you so much for putting it into words and pictures for all to share. ~skip allan

Hi Bill, Got my copy of Imp this morning – had to cancel all my meetings and finish it -  a great sprint down memory lane with all my old heroes and wonderful pictures of all the guys that would become part of my life in the next decade – My Horizon Sails decade. Your last SORC in 1981 was my first of many. Jack Hilditc

Hi Bill, I sure enjoyed your presentation at SFYC.  This weekend we were in Seattle for a family get together and I was able to read the first 50 or so pages of your book, and it is fantastic.  Thanks, Garry Gast

Bill, the book event at the yacht club was great fun!  You held an audience in thrall as you read from a book!  Bill, I am convinced that your book should be turned into a movie.  Basically, 3 chapters go into a script: Intro, how you go into racing and the accident that could have been fatal or crippling.  Then, the Imp and SORC, winning out of the box.  Final climax of the film, the 1979 Fastnet race.  Good thing you survived, or no movie.  Perhaps an after shot of you in a Hawaiian shirt presenting to the yacht club. I have a friend who has a friend, think about this seriously and let me know.
Tom Darling

Dear Bill, Your signed copy of “The Legend of Imp” arrived in the post today. Ron is traveling at the moment but has asked me to express his thanks. The book is most impressive and I know that all the team here will want to have the opportunity to read it. Kind regards, Marsha (Ron Holland Design)

...the best to me that's crossed my transom in while!!!  You know the tale and you tell it well - only wish I knew some of these folks you're referring to. Got to get back to reading now............ Geof Withers

Tom Wylie said, "Bill, I want to complement you on an amazing book. I really appreciate all the history you covered of that incredible era; the Skip Etchells piece, the Kiskaddon and Spirit story, The Leonard Delmas swim around the bay ...

Great job Bill! Congratulations!"

Hi Bill,  I am reading your book, The Legend of Imp, and enjoying it very much. David James

I am really enjoying your book. Holy Molly, how you got all those details organized is beyond my comprehension.  Great job, Buddy!  I am savoring each chapter. ~Skip Allan

Great story Billy Bob. Loved it great job!  John Jansheski
Founder CEO DenTek Oral Care

Hi Bill, Awesome book... have read many chapters now but not in any particular order other than what caught my eye. Maybe on a long plane ride I can delve into a more cover to cover job. Its been a great read so far ... Best, Tim Parson

Bill ... I am 1/2 way thru the book… It is totally entertaining and enjoyable! I am learning about many things I never knew, Many thanks! Jim Allen

Woo hoo! I’m enjoying the book – only get a couple of chapters a week when I can get to bed early enough. You’ve done a good job documenting an important part of the sport, both technically and socially. All the best, Garret Conklin

I have read about half of it, and it's awesome! Had it on the guest room nightstand and the guys fought over who got to look at it.  I suggested they buy a copy!  Hope you're well.  Shannon Bush, Etchells racer extraordinaire

Just finished “IMP”. Great read!! Hair razing in places. Glad you are still alive!! Keep on writing! You’ve got a great style. Maybe a history of the Etchells class?? Best, Rich Brayton

From Larry Suter:  Larry posted something on your Wall and wrote: Hey Bill, I am over at The Hague in Holland coaching Martine Grael and Isabel Swan at the 470 World Championship. I am reading your new book every chance I get. It is a great read and brings back memories of a special time of big boat racing and development, inter-dispersed with your magical walk through life. Larry Suter

Bill, I just read the first chapter, what an opener! Best, Mark Pilsbury (Editor of Cruising World)

Hi---finished the book over the weekend while sitting at Cuttyhunk. Have a cold beverage on me!  Great book and fun reading.  Sounds like you guys had a blast! Further proof---I mentioned some of the shenanigans that you guys pulled—bumpers on the bow, the prop shaft gal to my wife----she said, “that’s not all that much different from the stuff you continue to pull at age 58---and if that what was in IMP, you can see it in the Half Moon crew!. No wonder you love the boat. --Gib Hammond

Bill, I finished the book last night--it filled every spare moment in recent days.  It is a great work of personal art, a treasure for me, and an amazing read for anyone who sailed in that era or might wish they had.  It rekindles dozens of memories for me--almost overwhelming in some ways.  I gained and especially value deeper understanding of several individuals--Ragnar, Ron, Steve Taft, Commodore, Bill Green, Rumdum, and others, most importantly you, Skip, and David Allen.  I hope that finishing this prodigious effort gives you a sense of completion and peace.

Love to you, brother. Bob Barton

Bill, Congrats on completion. Love the cover. Guess I’ve got some weekend reading to do!

Regards, Dave Reed (Sailing World)

I am really enjoying the book! Nice job! Obviously a labor of love. Good on ya! Thanks for writing the book!  

-Scott Truesdell
P.S. Love the Pink Floyd music accompanying the online slide show!

Bill, You are a wonderful writer. I just got my book yesterday after Rebecca Ravizza got Ragnar to sign it at Tahoe. It was a great read and made me cry a few times as all the emotions come back. Thanks for the kind words. It was certainly the experience of a lifetime and thanks for bringing it all back so vividly. Skip Steveley

Dear Broadway: Congratulations and many thanks for a most delightful weekend spent reading IMP, and it was pure joy to be transported so elegantly back to my ocean racing days of the 60s, 70s and 80s. Your writing, my friend, is supberb! Best regards and, again, congratulations on a first rate effort. Skip Purcell