Dee Caffari using girl power for another World Record Attempt

3:14 PM Mon 15 Jun 2009 GMT
Monday, Dee Caffari, the British yachtswoman who made history by becoming the first woman to sail solo, non stop both ways around the world, set off in her attempt to break the record for sailing around Britain and Ireland. Caffari is joined onboard her racing yacht Aviva by an all female crew, including fellow British yachtswoman and Vend?e Globe race rival Samantha Davies, for the record attempt.

The team will leave the dock in Gosport at 6pm this evening and head for the official start line off Ventnor on the south coast of the Isle of Wight. The team are expecting to cross the start line at around 9pm tonight and are aiming to break the current outright record of 7 days 4 hours set in May 2004 onboard Solune. Another record in their sights is for an all female crew, which stands at 10 days and 16 hours recorded by Samantha Davies and her crew onboard Roxy in June 2007. The voyage will be ratified by the World Speed Sailing Council who will monitor the Aviva's progress around Britain and Ireland.

The route is almost 2500 nautical miles around the British coastline and features some of the world's most technical waters with ever-changing weather conditions, strong tidal flows and adverse land effects. Extra vigilance will also be needed throughout the record attempt for shipping and other obstructions such as oil rigs in the North Sea.

Dee Caffari commented:

'The team is really excited to start this record attempt. We've been raring to get out there while we've waited for Miranda (Merron) our navigator to give us the green light to go. The good weather was fun for many last week but the light winds would have given us a slow start in our quest to break the record'

Samantha Davies added:

'I can't wait to get on the water and start chasing down the two records - I already hold the female crew title but I'm more than happy to break that with this team, and hopefully we can claim the outright record in the process. Dee and I became good friends during the Vend?e Globe and with four other girls onboard Aviva as well I'm sure we won't be short of conversation.'

Joining Caffari and Davies will be fellow Brits, offshore sailor Miranda Merron and boat captain Alex Sizer, German Figaro sailor Isabelle Joschke. The all female crew have waited over a week for the best weather window before attempting the record. The team will sail in an anticlockwise direction as the current forecast suggests this will be the fastest route.

by Roberto Coladangelo