Dee approaches the finish of Aviva Challenge

by Aviva media/Sail-World on 18 May 2006 Dee Caffari is currently on schedule to cross the official finish line which is between Ushant, France and The Lizard, UK on Thursday 18 May 2006 between 07:00 and 10:00 GMT.

When Dee, onboard Aviva crosses the official finish line she will set a record as the first woman to have successfully completed a solo, non-stop circumnavigation against prevailing winds and currents, this is subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Records Council (WSSRC).

The official finish line for the Aviva Challenge runs between The Lizard, UK and Ushant, France. It is intended that Aviva will cross at the northerly end of the finish line.

Once she has done this she will make her way to Ocean Village, Southampton. She is currently expected to arrive at 12:00 noon on Sunday 21 May 2006.

Please note that this is dependent on Dee's progress during the final stages.

From Dee:

During last night I had been updating Lt Jim Edmondson, the Navigation Officer onboard HMS Chatham with Aviva's position, heading and speed. He was navigating HMS Chatham on deployment to the South Atlantic but was hoping to locate Aviva and I on their way south.

At 10:30hrs UTC Royal Navy Lynx Helicopter 348, under the command of Flight Commander Russ Clarke located Aviva and I in the middle of the ocean with 400 miles left to run to the finish line. They buzzed around and we chatted on the VHF.

They were impressed with how Aviva looked given where she had been and what she had been through, which made me swell with pride. Shortly after at 1100hrs UTC the Frigate HMS Chatham steamed into sight and swung round to run alongside Aviva and I.

They departed Plymouth yesterday and have been deployed to the South Atlantic for six months, and took the trouble to find me on route. It was an awesome sight and the closest I have been to people in 178 days. - Dee

Dee Caffari Background:

British skipper, Denise Caffari is 33 years old and based in Portsmouth in the UK when on land.

Known to her friends as 'Dee', she started sailing as a child with her father, developing a passion for the water and going on to become a dinghy instructor at university.

Dee started her career as a secondary school PE teacher, but soon realised that her destiny was a life on the water. She gave up her job and completed the relevant yachting qualifications.

After spending some time travelling the world, she returned to the UK to take up a job with Mike Golding Yacht Racing. Working for the accomplished British sailor, she completed a number of offshore races. Mike is one of the few men to have completed the challenge that Dee is attempting. Along with Sir Chay Blyth, Dee sees Mike as an ideal role model. 'They’re very focused, very driven people,' said Dee, 'Whenever there’s a negative impact in terms of the sailing, in the back of my mind I’ll be thinking about the fact that Mike and Chay wouldn’t sit there and cry about it, they would just get on and do it because that’s the kind of people they are.'

Seeing the Global Challenge fleet leave Southampton in 2000 crystallized her desire to be involved in round the world yacht racing and her opportunity came in 2004. Whilst skippering and managing Formula 1 Sailing’s Farr 65s, she received the ‘call’ and was offered a job as a professional skipper in the fleet by Sir Chay Blyth.

During the Global Challenge 2004/5, Dee successfully skippered 18 amateur yachtsmen around the world, sailing the same 72ft yacht which she will use to attempt this solo circumnavigation. Dee was the only female skipper in the race and proved herself more than capable of handling the physical and mental demands of directing the amateur crew for up to six weeks at a time over seven gruelling legs.

'It was during the Global Challenge, whilst at the stopover in Cape Town, that Sir Chay first put the idea of the Aviva Challenge in my head,' said Dee. 'The seed of the idea took root during the next leg and by the time I reached Boston I had decided I wanted to attempt it. During the last leg back from Boston, I spent time with my team assessing the boat and working out how to modify it for single-handed sailing and thus set in motion the planning for the voyage I am about to undertake'.