Close-hauled is the story of Racundra's second cruise. After immortalizing his newly built yacht in Racundra's First Cruise. Arthur Ransome sold her to the young K Adlard Coles on condition her real name was not used in any book that Cole wrote. So in Close-hauled, Racundra became Anette II and was cruised by the author and his wife from latvia, along the Swedish and Danish coasts to the Kiel canal and thence across the North Sea to Southwold. This graphically and entertainingly described voyage of more than sixty years ago has a special flavour of those times and places. K Adlard Coles is a name synonymous with pilotage works, pioneer ocean racing and the publishing of sailing books. Before any of these activities, he cruised small yachts with his family for a number of years. For his many achievements he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the OBE. He was the author of eighteen yachting books: Close-hauled was the second of these.