News
Aviva Ocean Racing: Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson lead the way to Costa Rica in the Transat Jacques Vabre
08 November, 2009
At 1.30pm GMT today, British sailing duo Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson made a strong start to the 4,800 mile Transat Jacques Vabre race from Le Havre, France to Costa Rica onboard the Open 60 yacht Aviva. This is the last competitive race in the IMOCA calendar, and brings together some of the rivals from the epic Vendée Globe round the world race which saw Caffari finish sixth out of 30 starters to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, both ways around the world.
Before departing Le Havre Caffari said: “It’s great to be back competing against several of the skippers that took part in Vendée Globe – with so many experienced sailors and high speed boats this is guaranteed to be an exciting race both to follow and participate in. I’m really looking forward to sailing with Brian as co-skipper – we’re determined to put in a good show for the British!”
Brian Thompson added: “We’ve been pushing ourselves pretty hard these last few weeks and now it’s time to put the training into practice. We’re looking forward to pushing Aviva to the limit and being as competitive as we can within such a strong fleet. The thought of the sunnier climes of Costa Rica waiting for us at the finish is definitely something to look forward to as well!”
Joining Caffari, Thompson and Aviva on the start line, were 13 other Open 60 racing yachts of which three are British. It is the first time Caffari and Thompson have sailed two-handed together, having been rivals throughout the 2008/09 edition of the Vendée Globe.
The Transat Jacques Vabre has twenty entries in total assembled from two different sailing classes - the Imoca Open 60 monohulls and the Open 50 multihulls. Previous editions of the race have concluded in either Brazil or Columbia with Costa Rica added for the first time this year. The new route will take the fleet across the Caribbean Sea, requiring both tactics and the ability to adapt to changing weather conditions, with the possibility of a light wind finish in the Western Caribbean Sea or even the tail end of a late season hurricane.
Aviva, the world’s fifth largest insurance group, has supported Caffari since 2005 and announced a new partnership with Caffari last month as the racing team’s founding partner. Dee is now actively searching for a new title sponsor to support her 2012 Vendée Globe campaign.
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For further information contact:
Kelly Russell, Synergy
Telephone: 020 3128 6822 / 07786 516570
E-mail: kelly.russell@synergy-sponsorship.com
Notes to editors:
Aviva Ocean Racing
Aviva Challenge
In May 2006 solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari, became the first woman to sail around the world non-stop against the prevailing winds and currents in her yacht ‘Aviva’. Caffari sailed 29,227 miles triumphing over extreme isolation, lethal icebergs, mountainous waves, vicious storms and hurricane force winds to set a new world record in a time of 178 days, 3 hours, 6 minutes and 15 seconds.
Vendée Globe 2008/9
At 1.13pm (GMT) on 16 February 2009, Dee Caffari completed a double world first by crossing the official finish line of the Vendée Globe yacht race after 99 days to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop both ways around the world.
Round Britain and Ireland Record
On 22 June 2009 Dee Caffari and an all female crew, including fellow British yachtswoman and Vendée Globe race rival Samantha Davies set a new record for sailing around Britain and Ireland – 6 days, 11 hours, 30 minutes and 53 seconds. This was 17 hours and 16 minutes ahead of the previous record set in May 2004 onboard Solune.
Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year 2009
On 3 November 2009, Dee Caffari was awarded the Helen Rollason Award for Inspiration at the prestigious Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards.
Further information on Dee Caffari and the Aviva Ocean Racing campaign can be found at www.avivaoceanracing.com.
Brian Thompson
Finishing fifth in the last Vendée Globe onboard Bahrain Team Pindar, this British yachtsman exudes quiet determination. Brian Thompson has an exceptional ability to adapt to a variety of circumstances and knows how to get the most out of everything that floats.
Brian has become a key crew member on a large number of both mono-hull and multi-hull boats and among his many achievements are the Oryx Quest 2005, taking the role of watch leader on the round the world record in 2004 on Cheyenne and the Columbus Route the previous year on PlayStation.
In recent years, Brian has sailed a great deal with his compatriot Mike Golding and raced the Artemis Challenge and the Rolex Fastnet race this summer with Dee Caffari and her crew onboard Aviva, finishing 5th in both events. Rightly considered one of the most experienced sailors on the international scene and holder of 25 sailing records, Brian will be looking forward to joining forces with Dee and racing with her rather than against her.
For more information on Brian Thompson, visit www.brianthompsonsailing.com.
Aviva
Aviva, the international savings, investments and insurance group, is the world’s fifth largest insurance group, serving 50 million customers across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
