Light airs in the slow haul south to Finisterre have forced Dee and Nigel to stay mainly on deck, hand steering and trying to second guess what the fickle wind will do next as it shifts from north east to east.
Light airs in the slow haul south to Finisterre have forced Dee and Nigel to stay mainly on deck, hand steering and trying to second guess what the fickle wind will do next as it shifts from north east to east.
"We have not had a great deal of sleep because it has been quite full on," said Dee.
"We have been doing an hour each on deck but by the time you have eaten or done a sail change, there's not much time to sleep. You lie down and listen to everything going on around you and know that a sail change is needed so it is difficult to sleep. We are both feeling quite tired but there is no shortage of adrenalin."
"Once the breeze has filled in a bit more and things get more consistent, we will probably extend our watches to two hours each so we get time for a decent sleep."
"We have been pretty much hand steering all the time because we are able to react faster than the autopilot. On the first day, we were changing sails constantly, from a gennaker to a Code O when the wind went light and then when it shifted, would change to a spinnaker then change back.
"We ended up with a lot of sails on deck that all went up and down a few times so it kept us entertained if nothing else," said Dee, who admitted she has been dressed like a "teletubby" to ward off the chill.
"The wind has been a lot lighter than forecast. We had two knots of breeze for long periods and you have to work really hard to keep the boat moving. We all thought we would be reaching with an easterly breeze but that hasn't been the case."
Two days into the 4,350 nautical mile Transat Jacques Vabre, Dee is finding out what it takes to be an elite Open 60 skipper in only her third competitive event, she is delighted at Aviva's position which at the last poll placed her in 10th place, less than 50 nautical miles behind leader Marc Guillemot in Safran and just 17 miles behind Mike Golding in his brand new Ecover 3.
"We are really pleased with our position," she said.
"The first night we felt we had lost out. We lost the navigation lights of Akena and Roxy really quickly and we thought we had lost loads of miles. When you park up in a no wind zone, you assume that everyone else is still moving while you have stopped but when we got the position in the morning, we were really chuffed to see we were still in the running and yesterday was really good as well. It gives us more incentive.
"I am really enjoying it. I imagine it will be really high pressure for the whole race - it is something I have to get used to but it will be good for me. The boat is doing well. She has been wonderful actually.
"As we speak, the sea is a flat calm. There is a gentle swell coming up from the Bay of Biscay and the winds are changing from north-east to east as we try and head south.
"We are getting sucked into Bay of Biscay rather than aiming straight for Finisterre but the wind is forecast to fill in and go more easterly and possibly southerly later so we just have to get through this light patch at the top of the Bay. It has finally warmed up because it has been freezing. I have been a right wuss, with every single layer on. I've been like a teletubby," she said.
To follow Caffari and King's progress in the Transat Jacques Vabre race and to view Dee's video diary entries log on to www.avivaoceanracing.com.
To receive Dee's diary, via the RSS feed visit www.avivaoceanracing.com/rss.
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For further information contact:
Caroline Ayling
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7202 2840
Mobile: +44 (0)7801 351950
E-mail: carolinea@karen-earl.co.uk
Kelly Russell
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7202 2862
Mobile: 07786 516570
E-mail: kellyr@karen-earl.co.uk
Notes to editors:
All skippers taking part in the 2007 race signed the Transat Jacques Vabre Charter for Sustainable Development. The five main aims of the Charter are:
- Promote the values of sailing
- Reduce the ecological footprint of the Transat Jacques Vabre event
- Encourage everyone involved to commit towards creating a responsible event
- Encourage the public to engage with the challenges of sustainable development
- Develop the local dynamics and North-South relations.
Aviva plc
Aviva is the leading provider of life and pensions to Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world's fifth largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2006.
Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £41.5 billion and assets under management of £364 billion at 31 December 2006.
The Aviva media centre at www.aviva.com/media includes images, company and product information and a news release archive.
- Further information on Dee Caffari and her Aviva Ocean Racing campaign can be found at www.avivaoceanracing.com
- Further information on Nigel King can be found at www.nigelkingyachting.com.