It's been something of an open secret for a little while, but now it's official. Dee Caffari took the opportunity of the London Boat Show to announce the next stage of her sailing career.
Unfortunately the weather did not permit her to bring her new Open 60 to the party as planned - storm force winds in the Dover Straits meant it had to stay in France. But the announcement was made anyway.
Not content with one world first, Dee now plans to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world in both directions. Aviva, the leading insurance company which sponsored her non-stop voyage around the world against the prevailing winds and currents, is now to back her move into the highly competitive world of Open 60 racing.
The Aviva Ocean Racing campaign is planned to culminate with her entry into the 2008/9 Vendée Globe in a brand new boat. And Dee stresses that she will not just be taking part: her aim is to win.
She accepts that she is facing a very steep learning curve, moving from the huge steel yacht she took round the world, completing her record breaking voyage last May, to the state of the art carbon fibre speed machine she will be racing this time under the Aviva banner.
Dee has proved that she has the guts and determination to succeed, as has been celebrated by the title Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the year. She now aims to prove that she can be fast, as well as tough.
Her campaign will include a series of Open 60 races in preparation for the 2008/9 Vendée Globe. In the first phase of the campaign she will use a training boat, Aviva, formerly known as Hellomot' - and before that Ecover.
In fact Dee has a long standing association with the boat. While working for Mike Golding Yacht Racing, her first job in professional sailing, she often helped on its preparation, including cleaning its bottom. She is relieved that she will no longer have to do that herself!
This “old boat” (launched in 1998) will help Dee learn how to sail her new boat, designed by Merfyn Owen of Owen Clarke Designs, to its full potential. The building of the new boat is to start immediately.
Dee and Aviva have put together a team of experts from a variety of sailing disciplines, under campaign director Andrew Roberts, with Harry Spedding as campaign manager. Both helped Dee to success in her round the world solo challenge in 2006.
Project manager is Joff Brown, who has been instrumental in a number of top class Open 60 campaigns including the preparation of boats for Mike Golding, Conrad Humphreys and Alex Thomson.
"I already know I'm mentally tough, but now I've got to focus on developing my technical skills so that I can successfully go from 0 to Open 60 in under two years!” said Dee.
"What more could I ask for my next challenge? Sailing events don't come any tougher than the Vendée Globe - the world's best sailors, competing in the world's best boats, in the biggest fleet, making it the most challenging sailing event for the next few years."
Announcing Aviva's sponsorship, executive director Patrick Snowball said:
“Dee's successful completion of the Aviva Challenge last year was a masterclass in skill, guts and determination. Dee is an extraordinary woman who is determined to push back the boundaries of her sport and inspires others to do the same in their own lives.
“Aviva is immensely proud of its partnership with Dee Caffari. We believe she epitomises the spirit of our 'Forward thinking' campaign and we're really excited about the prospect of her new international Aviva Ocean Racing campaign which will test her sailing skills even further.”
For further information visit www.avivaoceanracing.com
