UK Formula 1 Sailing team heading for Hobart

by Alexa Lyon-Dean as edited by Sail-World on 26 Nov 2003 British yacht charter company, Formula 1 Sailing, has chartered a Volvo 60 for the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race.

Training starts for the squad on 15 December in Sydney and the team will be thrown into the thick of it almost immediately with three days offshore training.

The squad is led by Denise Caffari, whose year has included competing at Key West Week, the International Rolex Regatta, St Maarten Heineken Regatta, BVI Spring Regatta, Pineapple Cup, Antigua Sailing Week, Cowes Week, Fastnet Race, and the ARC and will finish off her year in style with the Hobart Race. She will be one of only two female skippers in the Hobart Race.

The rest of the international squad comprises:

·Bernie Bingham (40) ·Alberto Brancaglion (40) from Milan, Italy;

·Fenton Burgin (36)

·David Copp, (53)

·Rob Cousins (43)

·Corinna Czujack (35)

·Michael Dawson, (52)

·Peter Goldsworthy,

·Simon Hearn, (47)

·Andrew Lygo, Australian

·Matt Riddell, from Sydney, who will skipper on
the next Global Challenge with Dee; (

·Maarten Rijkeboer (37)

·Michael Scallan (60)

·Giselle Sweet-Escott (34)

Everyone on the squad has good sailing experience including many Fastnet and RORC races, and this should stand them in good stead on the Hobart race this year.

The squad are quizzed carefully on their sailing experience and not everyone who applied for a berth has been granted one – this is one of very few events that F1S only takes crew who have good sailing experience already.

Dee, a former Physical Education teacher, has been offering her advice on fitness training to ensure we have a squad in tip top condition – we hope they’ve been acting on it as they are going to need it!

The squad are all kitted out in matching shorts, shirts and jackets to present a united front and will look very smart in their F1S livery.

Below decks the VO60 is not what one might call luxurious or spacious - it is spare and streamlined – clearly built for one purpose – to race hard. The crew will have a very strict limit on what goes on board during the race – what they stand up in and a spare set of thermals will pretty much cover it.

Their bags will then be shipped to Hobart so they have a change of clothes when they arrive – the race could take as little as two days to complete given the optimum conditions so they won’t have to suffer long in the same underwear!

Formula 1 Sailing offers one of very few opportunities for Northern Hemisphere amateur sailors to compete in a race like the Hobart on an individual berth basis, and it is a very special occasion for these people who have signed up for the challenge.

Not everyone has what it takes to crew in a race like this – courage, nerve, guts, whatever you want to call it.

The company has already started taking bookings for the 2004 Hobart Race

Website: www.formula1sailing.com