34-year old, solo sailor, Dee Caffari has teamed up with a team of sports science experts from her former University, Leeds Metropolitan, to shape her into the ultimate professional sailor.
- 34-year old, solo sailor, Dee Caffari has teamed up with a team of sports science experts from her former University, Leeds Metropolitan, to shape her into the ultimate professional sailor
- Caffari is preparing to race the world's ‘Open 60' elite sailors in her Aviva Ocean Racing Campaign
- Raising the bar again, Caffari has set out on an accelerated learning curve to go from ‘zero to Open 60' in under two years. Using sports science experts is the first of many steps in becoming a professional ocean racer
The experts at Leeds Metropolitan University are tasked with monitoring and improving both Caffari's physiological and psychological performance. Caffari has enlisted their experience at developing elite athletes to ensure her fitness levels are superior to her rivals. The training schedule will be designed specifically to give her the strength and stamina to compete for the entire duration of the races, enabling Caffari to push hard while others may need to rest.
The scientists will regularly carry out measurements on her heart, body mass and the effects of the training programme. To assess her fitness levels, the Carnegie Centre for Performance Sport uses state of the art finger-tip blood sampling technology to measure haemoglobin and blood lactate alongside monitoring heart rate response and blood pressure during incremental running on a treadmill.
Former school teacher Dee Caffari has shown she is tough by sailing around the world into the prevailing winds and currents in the record-breaking 2006 Aviva Challenge. She now faces the world's best ocean racers in the 2008 Vendée Globe and is out to prove she is fast as well as tough.
The Vendée Globe is regarded as the most gruelling race in the world with competitors racing solo around the world for up to 100 days in high winds and ferocious seas. Open 60 racing requires not only a massive skill set, but also the ability to multi task and keep pushing day after day. The harsh physical and mental environment will demand that Caffari attains an incredible level of fitness in order to achieve her goal.
Caffari said: "I know from the Aviva Challenge last year that sailing non stop over such a long period drains you both physically and mentally. Racing against the best in the world will be a whole new experience. I know I need to download expert knowledge from a variety of disciplines over the next two years to ensure I am competitive in the Vendée Globe. The guys at Leeds Met are putting a professional fitness programme together, which I know will help give me the edge over many of my rivals."
Caffari will be returning to the Headingley Campus, where she graduated in 1995, for the physiological tests at the Carnegie Faculty of Sport & Education's Centre for Performance Sport. The centre is one of the world's leading sports development centres and has helped some of Britain's best athletes including Dame Kelly Holmes and Tracey Morris.
Malcolm Brown, performance advisor at Leeds Met, commented: "To become an elite athlete requires not just grit and determination, you also need careful planning and preparation to succeed. Using our facilities and experts Dee will be able to monitor her progress to ensure she is in the best condition possible. Leeds Met are proud of Dee's achievements and are pleased to be supporting one of our former students in her latest campaign."
Photocall opportunity at 11.30am, Dee is available for interviews from 12.30 - 13.15.
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For further information contact:
Roberto Coladangelo, Karen Earl Sponsorship,
tel: 020 7202 2852
mob: 07860 761273
e-mail: Robertoc@karen-earl.co.uk
Helen Goodwin, News Officer at Leeds Met
tel: 0113 283 3021
e-mail H.G.Goodwin@leedsmet.ac.uk
Notes to editors
Aviva:
- Aviva plc is the world's fifth-largest insurance group and the UK's largest insurance services provider (based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2005), and is one of the leading providers of life and pension products to Europe, with substantial positions in other markets around the world
- Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £36 billion and assets under management of £322 billion at 31 December 2005
- Further information on Dee Caffari and her Aviva Ocean Racing campaign can be found at www.avivaoceanracing.com
Dee Caffari:
- Dee was awarded an honorary doctorate from Leeds Met during graduation in summer 2006. She first graduated from Leeds Met with a BA (Hons) in Human Movement Studies in 1994 and then a PGCE in 1995. She was a secondary school PE teacher before turning to sailing
- In 2006 Dee Caffari became the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the world into the prevailing winds and currents in the Aviva Challenge
- The Open 60 racing yachts are an ISAF (International Sailing Federation) class administered by IMOCA. The name is a reference to the boat's waterline length and ‘Open' rule which allows some flexibility in the design and build of the boat. The yachts are designed and built to each skipper's specific brief. However, the main aim is to make them as light as possible for speed, but strong enough to withstand the worst sea conditions.
Leeds Metropolitan University:
- Leeds Met won the ‘outstanding contribution to the local community' award and was the highly commended runner-up in the ‘university of the year' at the Times Higher Education Supplement's annual ceremony where it was particularly praised for its courageous and successful decision to set fees at £2,000
- Leeds Met is one of the country's largest universities with 52,000 students
- Leeds Met Carnegie is the primary sponsor of rugby league's Carnegie Challenge Cup
- Partnerships with fifteen colleges mean that the wider Great North Uni family in association with Leeds Met has over 300,000 students
- Leeds Met is the only English university to charge £2,000 for full-time undergraduates from 2006, with its straightforward ‘low-charging, high impact' approach. Governors have also just announced fees will remain at £2,000 for 2007