Day One: Round Britain and Ireland Record Attempt

Flying start for Dee Caffari and the girls onboard Aviva
British yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her all female crew onboard Aviva have had a
successful first night in their attempt to break the record for sailing around Britain and
Ireland. Having departed from Gosport at 6pm yesterday, the crew crossed the
official start line off Ventnor on the Isle of Wight at 21:09:36 and are sailing in an anticlockwise
direction.
Dee Caffari commented:
“It's been wicked. We are really on the pace and have worked hard overnight
dodging shipping in the English Channel with lots of manoeuvres and sail
changes already. We are about to enter an area of variable weather which will keep
us pretty busy for the rest of today.”
The all female crew are hoping to making good progress today, despite a dying low
pressure system, before picking up a new breeze that will set them on their way
again and continue to increase as a cold front comes in.
At 09h00 this morning, Caffari and crew were passing Southend-on-Sea and were
approximately 10 hours ahead of the pace required to beat the outright record.
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 15th 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 7 days 4 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 2500 nautical miles around the British coastline and the crew
To follow Dee and the crew's progress onboard Aviva throughout the record attempt,
visit the Aviva Ocean Racing race tracker at:
http://www.avivaoceanracing.com/index.asp?pageid=120