Caffari completes first Transatlantic race

by Caroline Ayling on 24 Nov 2007 At 21H34 UTC on Friday 23 November record-breaking British yachtswoman Dee Caffari, and her co-skipper Nigel King, crossed the finish line of the Transat Jacques Vabre race onboard Aviva. The British crew finished the 4,340-mile race despite suffering damage to the top section of her mast in the closing stages.

Dee Caffari said from the finish line: 'I’m relieved to have finished after the challenges we faced in the race. Completing my first Transat Jacques Vabre is a fantastic feeling. Whilst we have been tested by light winds, a tough doldrum crossing, spinnaker shredding and our incident last night it has been an experience! Undoubtedly our highlight was achieving one of the fastest average speeds over 24 hours in the fleet, even though Aviva is an older generation boat.'

Caffari’s first transatlantic crossing onboard an Open 60 has been a huge learning curve for the inspirational yachtswoman. The co-skippers faced difficult conditions throughout the race; the start was plagued by fickle winds and Aviva lost their spinnaker on only the fourth day at sea. Caffari also experienced the unpredictable nature of the doldrums followed by the damage to her mast caused by the failure of Gennaker halyard block with the only 180 miles to go.

Hot on the heels of finishing the TJV, Caffari is due to embark on her first solo race onboard Aviva, the Transat Ecover B to B, back from Brazil to France. Caffari has spent most of 2007 training for this first solo sail, a key milestone in the preparation towards her ultimate goal of becoming the first woman to sail solo around the world in both directions by competing in the Vendée Globe 2008/09.

However the pressure is now on for the shore team to assess the mast damage and make the necessary repairs in time for the race start. Harry Spedding, Aviva Ocean Racing Campaign Manager, has received lots of support and materials from the other teams and is feeling confident he can fix the mast in time.

Caffari added, 'We have been working towards the BtoB as a crucial part of my training and I’m praying that the mast can be repaired in time. I know the team will do everything they can to get me to the start line. There’ll be some long nights ahead for the boys and I’m really grateful to all the other teams for their generosity with spare materials. It shows that despite being fierce competitors on the water there really is a great spirit amongst the Open 60 fleet.'

Caffari’s co-skipper, Nigel King added: 'If there is one thing I wanted Dee to get out of this race, it was to feel confident in her ability sail solo from Brazil to Brittany. She’s more than capable of that now after coping with all the challenges we’ve faced.

'Whilst it is obviously important to focus on repairing the boat. You normally finish this type of race in terrible shape due to extreme exhaustion and the sheer physical nature of offshore sailing. It can take weeks to get back to feeling normal and Dee does not have this luxury. She needs to maximize what little time she does have to ensure she is in good mental and physical condition for the race back to France.'

The Transat Ecover B to B is scheduled to start between 27-30 November.

To follow Caffari’s Aviva Ocean Racing campaign and her next challenge, the Transat B to B race, log on to www.avivaoceanracing.com