Against the Flow by Dee Caffari, A and C Black, £16.99
The nights are drawing in and if you like to recapture the feeling of the open sea by reading sailing adventures, this is a book not to be missed. It would also make an ideal Christmas present for keen sailors, or anybody in search of some inspiration to “live the dream.”
Dee Caffari, the current Yachtsman of the Year, sailed into the record books in May 2006 when she became the first woman to sail solo non-stop round the world against the prevailing winds and currents. That much is well known.
What is perhaps less well known is that Dee had only been sailing for six years at the time. Born in Hertfordshire, she was a PE teacher with no background in sailing. After the death of her father she resolved to change her life. This book tells her story - what made her a sailor, and the extraordinary adventures she has had along the way.
Dee learned to sail in a remarkably short time, spent two years with a yacht charter company, and in 2004 was chosen to skipper a crew of 17 amateurs in the Global Challenge Round the World Race. During that race the idea began to form of an even bigger challenge - to set that solo record.
And she did it in a massive steel boat designed to be raced by a crew of 18. The sheer scale of the physical effort involved is mind boggling.
The book also brings to life the horrors of the Southern Ocean, where she dodged icebergs and endured an unrelenting succession of storms - the worst for 50 years.
At sea for 178 days, Dee had to overcome exhaustion, physical hardship, critical equipment failure - and loneliness. In a way the book is the story of her discovery of the inner strength to do so.
Her achievement is an inspiring example of how an ordinary person can step outside their comfort zone, dare to dream - and do something extraordinary.
“I feel I have been preparing for this my whole life. This is my dream,” said Dee, of her record-breaking feat. “We can do more than we think we can. We just have to dare to dream.”
Now of course Dee has taken on yet another remarkable challenge - she is preparing to race round the world “the right way” in the Vendee Globe race in an Open 60 - lighter, faster, and infinitely less forgiving than the 72ft Challenge yacht.
But that is obviously for the next book. This one is about that heroic, “wrong way” circumnavigation, which won Dee an MBE for services to sailing.
Co-written by yachting journalist Elaine Bunting, this book brings to life the highs and lows of an extraordinary voyage. It tells you what its like to have to climb a very tall mast in the middle of the ocean, with barely the strength left to do the life-or-death job at the top when you get there.
And even those of us who have no intention in following in those perilous footsteps will enjoy all the insights the book opens into the logistics of not only the record breaking solo voyage, but also the crewed circumnavigation that preceded it. Anyone planning on sailing long distance will learn a great deal.
As Sir Chay Blyth says in his preface, “Dee has inspired the imagination of a worldwide audience. She has joined only four men who have achieved this feat. Other women may follow, but the will always remain the first.
