Oceanracing 2005- Solo-Around-Nonstop

Solo-Around-Nonstop - Dee Caffari/Aviva
www.avivachallenge.com - zur Übersicht

19.04.2006
Shore team commentary Aviva Challenge team
Logistics Director Alistair Hackett looks back at the different approaches to sailing Dee has employed to keep Aviva going during a tough voyage

During Dee and Aviva's epic trip around the world both of them have encountered conditions that are rarely seen by individuals and yachts. The constant struggle to keep everything going during the trip to date has been immense and it is an amazing credit to both Dee, the yacht and the equipment onboard that so far things have gone as well as they have. However with Dee now on the 'homeward' leg, albeit that she still has several thousand miles to go, it is interesting to assess the three ways in which she has needed to sail the yacht during the three index sectors of the voyage.

Atlantic learning curve
Dee has commented herself that she had spent very little time alone before and even less time sailing by herself. This meant that the first sector of the trip, sailing down the Atlantic, was a huge learning curve. She had to learn how Aviva handled under the autopilot system and also how the new sails changed the sailing characteristics of the yacht’s performance. Dee was very used to the way a Challenge 72 yacht handles with the option of using 6 different headsails in different combinations, but for the Aviva Challenge she would only have the choice of two on the Harken Furling systems.

Of course, the other big thing to learn about was the reacher and asymmetric spinnaker, both of which set on the new bowsprit. Those of us responsible for the equipment that goes onboard the Challenge yachts had always felt that a reaching type sail would give an increase in performance and the initial trials had shown this to be the case, but Dee had to prove all this on the ocean. The whole learning curve was intense and at times fraught. Dee set a very quick pace at the start and was clearly pushing hard but this first stage ended up being dominated by the technical problems with the autopilots on the final approach to Cape Horn. In some respect the biggest thing this taught everyone, especially Dee, was how alone she was and how this trip would not only be a test of the different sailing skills she has but a test of many other skills as well.

The Southern Ocean
With the technical problems sorted the Southern Ocean loomed around the corner. Aviva would be the 50th Challenge yacht to be sailing across the Southern Ocean and the third single-handed, but we were all totally surprised at what the Southern Ocean threw at Dee. She had to spend most of the trip around the bottom of the globe 'hanging on' as she encountered some of the worst weather we have ever seen. The Challenge yachts are designed to sail in the most inhospitable parts of the world’s oceans but it will always be a test of will to get a yacht through the weather systems that roll around the bottom of the world with no landmass to stop them.

Dee adapted well to the conditions but had to develop different techniques to do most tasks onboard. Things taken for granted like tacking and reefing had to be done in different ways which all affected the way in which Aviva could be sailed. With the depressions moving so fast in the Southern Ocean Dee would quite often have to prepare the sail plan in advance simply because she knew she wouldn't be able to change the sail plan in time once the weather hit and would run the risk of damage. The late, great, famous round-the-world yachtsman Sir Peter Blake once said during one of his races that 'You have to go into the Southern Ocean knowing that you will come out the other side because there is nothing there, no ships, no vapour trails – nothing.' With this in mind Dee had to be conservative in the way in which she sailed Aviva in the Southern Ocean so that her and the yacht would come out the other side. As we all saw from the photographs as she passed the Cape of Good Hope Dee achieved the goal.

Back in the Atlantic
Aviva is now on the last leg of her mammoth journey and this will be the first time that Dee can confidently push that little bit harder. It will be on this leg that the downwind sails (the asymmetric spinnaker, the reacher and 3 conventional spinnakers) can be used to their full potential in the knowledge that home is not that far away. She also has the advantage of extensive experience in how to sail the 42-tonne yacht by herself. It is, however, vital that the euphoria of the last leg home does not overtake good seamanship, which is fundamental in getting Dee through this last stage. A serious failure in some component now could still end the dream that Dee is so close to fulfilling. Dee will approach this last push to get home in the same way she has the others but she must not let the 'big push' get in the way of her judgment - judgement that all of the shore team have all gained the utmost respect for.

Dee's Diary Dee Caffari
Wednesday 19 April 2006 08:59 RECEIVED AT 23H08 ON 18TH APRIL 2006
After the excitement of turning the corner at The Cape of Good Hope and we left the strong winds behind, we settled into warmer conditions and some pleasant easy sailing and I was able to actually catch up on some sleep. No more than two hours at a time but some good sessions of rest nonetheless. Now as we approach the equator the temperatures have soared and my steel tank is imitating an oven very well. On deck during the day it is so hot I can't walk on the deck in bare feet and at night the stifling heat of the day doesn't seem to be lost below.

This makes the environment very difficult to sleep in. It is frustrating as the wind is quite consistent at the moment and there has not been another vessel in sight for five days. Ahead lies the equator and doldrums that will deliver squally weather and keep me busy with sail changes so that I can keep pushing Aviva home. Ideally with a busy time ahead now would be the perfect time to catch some proper rest but I am unable to sleep in the stifling conditions. I am not complaining as I would rather be in the heat than the cold of the Southern Ocean, but I could also do with some sleep. I am finding that I am only lying with my eyes closed for 20 minutes at a time. I am quite happy however, pottering around doing jobs, such as pumping the fuel into the day tank, or mopping my bilges dry.

A good time for rest is in the early hours of the morning when the temperature seems at its lowest. I am normally up and about at sunrise and try and get another winch serviced before it gets too hot. I am working quite hard at checking everything on Aviva before we get back into the northern hemisphere and really push for home. As we have seen with the water maker last week, something as simple as a seal or gasket can cause a threatening condition for the last reindexing miles.

The sailing has been lovely. The Code 0 has been pulling Aviva along with a gentle swell approaching the port aft quarter. It is getting increasingly frustrating heading west but knowledge that the doldrums, which are sat just north of the equator, are spreading with no wind in them makes me pleased that I am not there already floating, going nowhere. I have everything crossed that the circumstances change by the time I am heading towards them.
Dee & Aviva