Three years ago, Woody Cullen and his wife Carolyn, from Sun Valley, Idaho, USA, were pretty green around the gills when it came to racing their new-to-them Swan 58 WaveWalker at BVI Spring Regatta. With a serious commitment to improving their game the Cullen’s have hired the right people who have helped them take big strides these past few years, including Dee Caffari, who joined WaveWalker last year for the Newport to Bermuda race where they took first in class.
The Cullen’s invited Caffari back to help them with their winter programme, which includes the BVI Spring Regatta and Antigua Sailing Week, and the six-time global circumnavigator is thrilled to be here racing for the first time in some twenty years.
Caffari recalled with a laugh: “I was skippering a Farr 65 and all I recall is that all the courses then seem to be windward leewards, there was a massive kite to pack every time and the windward legs were so quick! It’ll be nice to race the Round Tortola race on Tuesday and the Scrub Island race then build up for Spring Regatta later in the week. Twenty years later the islands are still really beautiful, it’s good to be back and I’m looking forward to this week.”
As the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions and the only woman to have sailed non-stop around the world a total of three times, Caffari is one of the UK’s most decorated female sailors. On WaveWalker she fits in and fills the gaps where needed, using her well-honed coaching skills to help the Cullen’s get to the next level.
“The WaveWalker team dynamic is really strong, it is very relaxed, and it’s really professional,” Caffari noted. “It’s all about consistent improvement, coaching and development as well. There are some really experienced skilled people on board who have been on the boat for a long time who know how to get the best out of the boat. I really like being part of a team and there are no egos on this boat so just fitting in and filling in the gaps, it is really fun to be part of it. Hopefully, I can do the best job I am there to do and help with the performance of the boat.”
Caffari can already see the difference in the crew between racing with them last year and now.
“It’s just that confidence-growing; Woody’s awareness when he is driving is all about the numbers now and he’s not waiting for the instructions, and the window that he drives in is getting much narrower now for him. Their trimming is on point and the crew do a great job of preparing the boat for racing.”
WaveWalker are fortunate to have Caffari as well as three-time Olympian and silver medalist Annemieke Bes (Netherlands) on board as both women have a hugely busy schedule this year preparing The Famous Project, where they’ll race with an all-female crew to take on the Jules Verne record on IDEC Sport, a 100-foot trimaran, the current holder of the forty day, twenty-three-hour record.
“IDEC has held that record for seven years so the boat is tried and tested,” Caffari said. “We just have to jump on for the ride. Tracy Edwards led Royal Sun Alliance some twenty-five years ago and since then a female team hasn’t tried it. There are just limited opportunities for women at that level. If I’m going to do another lap around the world, it’s a pretty cool lap to do. We need to learn to sail
the boat pretty quickly and keep up a good average to get the record but failing the overall record it will be a reference time for women upon completion. It’ll be a tough challenge.”
Fortunately, Caffari has opportunities like WaveWalker where the racing is just a tad more relaxed; preparations for racing on the beautiful Swan involve not too much more than emptying stuff off the boat – the Cullens like to cruise her between regattas – and changing a few things around, noted Caffari. With consistent trades in the high teens forecast all week, racing will be great across the board.
“With the forecast we have for the BVI Spring Regatta we’re pretty hopeful,” Caffari commented. “The racing is good here, there is lots of it, rounding the island on Tuesday will be a nice dynamic rather than mark roundings all the time, and the hospitality just rounds it all out!”
