Brave yachtswoman Dee Caffari spends Christmas alone on the ocean
22 December, 2005
- Business as usual as round-the-world yachtswoman celebrates Christmas 6000 miles from the UK
Solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari will experience a Christmas like no other this year as she spends the festive season alone on board her yacht, Aviva, preparing for the next crucial phase of her solo circumnavigation, 'The Aviva Challenge'.
This is the second Christmas in a row that Caffari, 32, has spent sailing the 'wrong way' round the world. Last Christmas she was skippering the same yacht with a crew of amateur sailors during the Global Challenge. Then she ate "boil in the bag" baked beans and sausages for Christmas dinner and the inter-yacht Christmas carol concert with other teams had to be cancelled due to an unscheduled storm.
This year Caffari will be completely alone, attempting to become the first woman to sail non-stop round the world from east to west, but thankfully she has a specially prepared Christmas menu of roast chicken and dauphinoise potatoes with peas and carrots, followed by Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.
Caffari always knew that loneliness would be an issue during her record attempt. At times the physical challenge of sailing a 72ft yacht alone is superseded by the psychological challenge and Christmas will be no exception. Instead of being surrounded by family and friends, the solo skipper will be preparing to round Cape Horn and enter the notorious Southern Ocean, approximately 7000 miles from home. She will spend Christmas day going about her usual tasks as she readies herself for the treacherous conditions she will undoubtedly face once she 'turns the corner'.
In amongst the endless lists of chores, Caffari will try to make time to open a small collection of Christmas presents which were packed onboard before she left, as well as decorating the yacht's cabin with Christmas decorations. She will also speak to her family for the first time since she left Portsmouth over a month ago, something the lone yachtswoman is particularly looking forward to.
Speaking as she contemplated her unusual Christmas, Caffari was putting on a brave face: "Christmas is traditionally a time for being surrounded by family and friends and I will certainly miss that this year. However, I will speak to my mother and sister at some point during the day and that will give me a huge psychological boost at an important time in my voyage. I was always prepared to be away over Christmas but it's these special days that really bring home the enormity of what I'm attempting. It's not going to be easy, all on my own in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean but, hopefully, I'll be able to have my own Christmas, just me and Aviva, before settling down to concentrate on the looming Southern Ocean".
Caffari has also received a Christmas message from her shore team led by her mentor, Sir Chay Blyth. Having also spent Christmas away from home during his own solo circumnavigation in 1972, Sir Chay offered Caffari some warm words of comfort: "It's a difficult time of year for Dee to be on her own but she has done fantastically during the first part of her voyage and having allowed herself a quick celebration, I know she will concentrate on the task at hand. I wish her all the best and a very Merry Christmas in the Southern Ocean".
Caffari’s first five weeks at sea have not been without incident - she faced a tropical storm within a week of her departure and has already been required to make an ascent up the mast in rough seas. Having survived the various ordeals, she will now brace herself for the most crucial part of her voyage as she approaches Cape Horn in the next few days. Once she has rounded the Cape, Caffari is predicted to spend close to 80 days traversing the Southern Ocean before she returns to the Atlantic and heads for home. For now, the intrepid lone yachtswoman will make the most of the distraction that Christmas will offer her, as her circumnavigation continues.
Dee is posting regular logs and you can follow her progress at: www.avivachallenge.com
Dee will also be available for interview over the Christmas period - please contact George Spring on 01672 811588 or 07747 033 728
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Enquiries:
Karen Earl Sponsorship
Georgina Spring +44 (0)7747 033728
+44 (0)1672 811588
Aviva
Sue Winston, head of group media relations +44
(0)20 7662 8221
Notes to editors:
Aviva and The Aviva Challenge
- www.avivachallenge.com includes a voyage tracker, Dee's daily logs, an image library, profiles of Dee and her shore team, the yacht Aviva and further information about The Aviva Challenge.
- Aviva is the world's sixth-largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums and market capitalisation (at 31 December 2004); it is one of the leading providers of life and pensions in Europe and has substantial businesses in other markets around the world. Aviva's main activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total income of Ł40 billion and assets under management of Ł280 billion at 31 December 2004.
- Aviva is sponsoring Dee Caffari's 'Aviva Challenge' as part of its "Forward thinking" pan-European advertising campaign. The print, on-line and television corporate campaign, targeting Europe's opinion-former community, will run until April 2006. As part of the campaign, Aviva has also commissioned RSA Films to make five film shorts for CNBC TV, featuring people who have a particularly powerful vision of the future and celebrating the remarkable achievements of these individuals.
- The current world record for a non-stop single-handed circumnavigation of the globe against the prevailing winds and currents is 122 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds and is held by Frenchman Jean Luc Van Den Heede.
Challenge Business
- Challenge Business is the organiser for 'The Aviva Challenge', co-ordinating the shore team and logistics behind Dee Caffari's solo, non-stop circumnavigation.
- Challenge Business is a market leader in creating, managing and promoting World Class events - providing the opportunity for ordinary people to do the extraordinary, for the professionals to reach for the extreme and visionary businesses to achieve amazing results.
- Challenge Business uses the participation and passion of adventure sport to create integrated marketing programmes for innovative businesses and has a sponsorship community of many hundreds of blue chip companies worldwide.
