Dee Caffari and her all female crew aboard Aviva have the record for sailing around Britain and Ireland firmly in their sights as they passed the Scilly Isles this morning.
Dee Caffari and her all female crew aboard Aviva have the record for sailing around Britain and Ireland firmly in their sights as they passed the Scilly Isles this morning. With just 218 miles to go and although the crew anticipate variable winds as they enter the English Channel today, they are still on track to reach the finish line before 0100hrs Tuesday morning. Entering the English Channel will also mean a return to dodging shipping, lobster pots and the effects of land and tides will be a constant over the next 24 hours or more.
At 8am this morning, skipper Dee Caffari commented: “We will have good breeze for the next three hours and then it is going to become more variable, so we are expecting a bit of a slow down as we enter the English Channel. We are also back to the tidal and land effects as we dodge shipping on our way to the finish line. We are all far too superstitious to say whether we think we are going to beat the record but are giving it our all and spirits are high.”
Although the girls were not prepared to comment, the Aviva Ocean Racing shore team calculated their finish time to be anytime between 6am and 8am Monday morning.
At 8am (BST) this morning, Caffari and her all female crew were passing the Isles of Scilly.
Round Britain and Ireland record overview
- 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 at 21:09:36 on Monday 15 June to 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 Vendée Globe race rival Samantha Davies, sailor Miranda Merron and boat captain Alex Sizer
- The current outright record stands at seven days four hours and was 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 route is almost 2,500 nautical miles around the British coastline
To follow Dee and the crew’s progress onboard Aviva throughout the record attempt, visit the Aviva Ocean Racing race tracker at www.avivaoceanracing.com/index.asp?pageid=120
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For further information and interview requests contact:
Kelly Russell
Mobile: +44 (0)7786 516570
E-mail: Kelly.russell@synergy-sponsorship.com
Website: www.avivaoceanracing.com
Images: www.avivaoceanracing.com/images
Notes to editors:
- 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 2007
- Aviva’s principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £49.2 billion and funds under management of £359 billion at 30 June 2008
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