Dee Caffari has left the wind hole behind and is gathering pace ahead of an anticipated blast towards the finish of the Transat Ecover B to B in Brittany.
Dee Caffari has left the wind hole behind and is gathering pace ahead of an anticipated blast towards the finish of the Transat Ecover B to B in Brittany. With only a few days remaining of her first single-handed race in her Open 60 Aviva, Dee is finally careering through the waves, experiencing the sort of performance more commonly associated with this pedigree of race boat rather than the single figure speeds of recent days.
"Aviva and I are moving again and it's awesome," said Dee, lying in 12th place with around 1,000 miles to go to the finish in Port La Foret.
"We have around 15 knots of breeze that is set to increase throughout the day. It is set to stay until the depression comes over us and we have 35 knots of wind to deal with all the way to the finish. It's been all or nothing in this race, either too much or too little but at least its blowing in the right direction now."
"It means I will be home for Christmas for the first time in seven years which is exciting. This race has been hard so I am looking forward to just going home and catching up on my sleep and eating a lot.
"Having five days in between the finish of the Transat Jacques Vabre and the start of this race to repair the damage on the boat meant I didn't get any rest and that combined with the fact that this race has been really hard means that I am overly tired.
"This time next year I will be doing a lap of the world so I'm going to make the most of the home comforts and especially my bed!"
Dee has made no secret of the difficulties she has experienced on this solo voyage as she puts in the miles and the hard graft in preparation for her assault on the Vendée Globe trophy next year. Her lowest times, she says, have been eased by the flow of morale boosting messages sent through my friends, family and fans.
"The most helpful messages have been the ones reminding me that this is a training run, that this is all about going out on the boat and learning the ropes. If it was really easy, I wouldn't have learned anything so it is good that it has been difficult. Even though I know what this race is all about, it is good to have it confirmed by other people that this is the next step on the learning curve.
"I've also learned a lot about myself in this race, about how I am under pressure and hopefully I can use that knowledge and experience to do justice to the new boat."
Dee Caffari's latest diary entry received at 11.15pm UTC on 14 December:
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"I breathed a sigh of relief this morning as I had started moving and roughly speaking it was in a good direction. Today was day five of light airs and ay three of being becalmed.
I collected the weather file and checked. It was going to be short lived. It did not matter what direction I would try and go I would not escape the clutches of the wind hole that would swallow me up yet again. Allegedly though this was only going to last hours and then the end was in sight.
"From the position report this morning it looks like Derek onboard Spirit of Canada had successfully managed to escape the clutches but for Rich onboard Great America III and me we would have our patience tried and tested and possibly broken once more today. That is unless while I wallow in the swell, Rich hasn't found his own wind cloud and is sailing right by as I write this!"
Dee
Aviva Ocean Racing summary
After setting a world record last year sailing around the world against the prevailing winds and current, Dee Caffari's next ambition is to compete in the 2008/9 Vendée Globe and become the first woman to sail around the world, solo, in both directions.
Transat Ecover B to B
The 4,300-milesingle-handed Transat Ecover B to B from Salvador de Bahia in Brazilto Port-La-Forêt, Franceis most important milestone of the Aviva Ocean Racing campaign to date. The race will be the first time that Caffari has raced solo and is the first time she'll be alone at sea since completing her record making round the world voyage. Despite being one of the least experienced Open 60 Skippers in the fleet, Caffari is determined to prove she can compete alongside some of the best sailors in the world.
Further information on Dee Caffari and her Aviva Ocean Racing campaign can be found at www.avivaoceanracing.com.
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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
Notes to editors:
Aviva plc
Aviva is the leading provider of life and pensions to Europewith 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.
2008/9 Vendée Globe qualification requires both the skipper and the boat entering the race to complete a solo qualification sail validated by the Vendée Globe race management of at least 1500 nautical miles, by 1 July 2008. The Transat Ecover B to B will qualify Dee and the current Aviva. However, she will be required to qualify the new Aviva that is currently under construction in Hakes Marine, New Zealand. She will be racing the new Aviva, sister ship to Mike Golding's new Ecover, in the 2008/9 Vendée Globe.