Deep Water by its title sounds like one of those edge-of-the-seat thrillers in the style of Dead Calm or Jaws, but in seafaring terms this is something different, but none the less memorable.

It's the engrossing, true story of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailing enthusiast who took part in a Sunday Times National Competition in 1968, to become the winner of a solo non-stop round-the-world sailing race. It aroused great interest across the nation and it was the sort of thing that would have interested latter-day 'Ellen MacArthurs'.

The film is made up of documentary footage and the chart of Crowhurst's positions once he set sail. The filmmakers speculate as to what happened after Crowhurst set sail, but so much has been carefully pieced together here that it the journey itself becomes incontrovertible. It's all the more poignant once you learn the final result.

Donald Crowhurst is instantly likeable because from the outset you learn that he was never going to be the world's greatest sailor. However, you admire his bravery in taking on something that the rest of us would happily say no to. He tried to make up for personal weaknesses by arming himself with the most technological boat imaginable, and in a field of nine sailors, you might well feel that technological innovations should count for something.

What is particularly likeable about Deep Water is the attention to detail and the fact that it's a true story. It's also about courage, ingenuity, pragmaticism, and the sheer human spirit. Filmmakers Louise Ormond and Jerry Rothwell have done an incredible job here putting this together and give an honest account of Crowhurst's efforts. You perhaps have to like documentaries, but this is one of the best in a good while.