Dee Caffari

Born in landlocked Hertfordshire, my life growing up was not centred on sailing and the water by any means. I started my career as a secondary school PE teacher and it was about five years into that career that the bug to travel the world took hold and after two year’s experience with a yacht charter company both in the UK and Caribbean I felt ready to take on my first significant sailing challenge, The Global Round the World Yacht Race. I had seen the fleet of boats leave from Ocean Village on the previous race and knew that I wanted to be part of the next race in 2004/5. I secured my place as the only female skipper and it was half way around that voyage during a conversation with Sir Chay Blyth in Cape Town that he suggested that I follow in his footsteps, by pushing my limits further and take on the ultimate challenge by becoming the first solo female to sail around the world, against the prevailing winds and currents – termed the ‘wrong way round’. The seed was sown and by the time I returned to the UK that summer I had decided that this was to be my next goal. The challenge then, as always, is to find a sponsor willing to back you and I was very fortunate to have approached Aviva at the right time, with the right project. From Aviva agreeing to back me and my departure date, I had just 8 weeks to have the boat modified and to make my own personal preparations for such a lengthy time at sea. I set off on the Aviva Challenge in November 2005 having spent very little time in my life alone and having never sailed solo. Naturally I was anxious about how I would cope with only ‘me’ for company and I very quickly realised that lack of sleep was going to be one of the hardest things to cope with and in fact, even now, my sleep patterns have not returned to pre challenge normality. The Southern Ocean that had been relatively kind when I had a crew of 17 aboard with me the year before, seemed to have turned against me for my solo voyage and my time down there was hampered by some of the worst storms on record for 50 years. It was to be an extremely tough part of the voyage both mentally and physically. Although I never actually wanted to throw in the towel, there were many times when I just wanted to get off and have a break as my body craved some respite from the harsh conditions. Through the messages of support I received on a daily basis, I felt that there were so many people all over the world willing me to get round that giving up would have been letting them all down. Besides, I am not known for giving up on things. Another test of my resolve was sailing through icebergs for 3 days and nights. This was an immensely nerve wracking time for me and I do remember hoping and praying for easier times - but when you hit the doldrums and can’t make progress that too can be very demotivating. I think, as with a lot of things in life, it is a case of the grass always being greener. The scariest moment of the whole voyage came just after one particularly bad storm in the Southern Ocean when lightening had struck the mast and damaged the wind instruments. Not a big fan of heights at the best of times, I psyched myself up for the daunting climb and after double checking to make sure there was no one else on board I could send up instead, I bolted myself on and began the ascent. As I reached halfway up the mast, I realised that the sea state was too rough to continue but found that I was unable to switch from ascending to descending on my climbing gear. I was being slung around like a rag doll, which in itself is not a barrel of laughs, but made all the more frightening when it dawned on me that I could not alert anyone to the fact I was stuck. Even if I could, the nearest people to me were astronauts on an international space station and I am not sure how much help they could have been be to me in my predicament. The realisation that you are totally alone does sharpen your senses and after persevering with the equipment I finally made it down to safety after 90 minutes of hell. I was badly bruised and battered but I had survived to tell the tale and that was all that mattered. For all the scary and unpleasant moments there were also many happy moments at sea, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets the like of which you rarely see at home due to various forms of pollution – be it light or atmospheric. Encountering whales and dolphins and seeing them interact with the boat makes you really felt like part of nature. The return to Southampton with my family, friends and the crowds there to welcome me also holds a very special place in my heart – I felt so proud to be bringing Aviva back safely to port and was amazed at the momentum of public support that the voyage had gathered. The things I missed the most were my friends and family. In the past I had taken companionship for granted but the voyage taught me not to be complacent in that area. Not seeing people’s facial expressions also had quite an impact on communication and I discovered that I had absorbed a great deal about someone’s feelings and mood from the way they looked whilst talking. This was lost to me while I was away and could lead to missed communication via email or telephone calls. In the working world it is easy to see how misunderstandings occur when communication is largely by email or phone but both these forms of contact were also what helped keep me sane and motivated. Messages of support that people posted through the Aviva Challenge website were sent to me and went a long way to keep me sane and committed to continue battling the elements. When the conditions were calm enough I was able to read books, listen to music and I even took a few DVD’s for entertainment. I did wonder if I would struggle with the adjustment to life back on dry land but found that I quickly slipped back into the ‘real’ world. My environment has an impact on how I feel emotionally and I did find the noise and light pollution hardest to adapt to. I had been under beautiful clean and clear skies for nearly 6 months and my first trip to London on my return was a stark environmental contrast. I appreciated time with people more and of course I was able to eat fresh food instead of boil in the bag or freeze dried offerings. My first treat on crossing the finish line when my team climbed aboard was fresh fruit and Diet Coke – a craving that began at Christmas and was not satisfied until the middle of May. Challenge and adventure are the key things that drive me. Pushing my own personal boundaries and limits in different areas and just ‘having a go’ are the things that inspire me. I believe that everyone can do more than they think they can. Last year I competed in the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge. This was not a sailing challenge, but an adventure race comprising trekking, cycling and kayaking. I really had to get out of my comfort zone and train very hard leading up to the challenge to ensure that my fitness levels were up to scratch to take on the 600km race over 6 days. This year I have written a book called ‘Against the Flow’ which is about my life leading up to and including the Aviva Challenge and in April I took part in the Flora London Marathon. With long distance running even further outside of my comfort zone this was quite some feat for me to take on but once I have set a goal I do everything I can to achieve it. Now my sights are set on the next sailing adventure as I prepare to sail solo around the world the ‘right’ way with my Aviva Ocean Racing Campaign I will compete in the 2008/9 Vendee Globe race, the pinnacle of offshore racing, and will be up against the world’s best offshore sailors. On successful completion, it will enable me to set another world record of being the first female to circumnavigate the globe single handed and non stop in both directions. I have several races in my programme that will act as training for the Vendee Globe and I have just returned from my first foray into the Open 60 world having competed in the Calais Round Britain Race. Although for that race I had a crew onboard it did give me a real flavour of what to expect when sailing downwind at considerable speeds – a stark contrast to ‘wrong way round’ sailing! Next month I travel to New Zealand to see how the build of my new boat is coming along. This should be in the water early next year so that I have plenty of practise time before I line up on the start line of the Vendee. These are exciting times for me and I am fortunate that I have been able to seize all the opportunities that have presented themselves over the past few years. Dee’s next competitive race will be the Rolex Fastnet at the end of Cowes Week and her book ‘Against the Flow will be on sale from 3 September 2007. For more information on Dee and her sailing campaign go to www.deecaffari.com