Round-the-world girl

Dee Caffari

While she was working as a physical education schoolteacher in the south of England, Dee Caffari decided to see a bit more of the world.

So she made a plan: qualify as a professional yacht master and sail the world in multi-million dollar yacht races - a sport dominated by men.

"I was brought up doing watersports as a child and decided on a career change from working in a school," says Caffari.

It was certainly that.

World yacht racing has been described by various skippers as lonely, tiring, isolating and dangerous. The phrase 'it can be lonely at the top' springs to mind.

Speaking during a break in Wellington after a tumultuous second leg skippering the Unisys and EMC-sponsored yacht Imagine It. Done in the 2004-05 Global Challenge Yacht Race, Caffari explains how landing the job was part of a six-year career plan.

"I saw the last Global Challenge race and decided it was something I would like to do. So I engineered my career towards it. There were 12 boats, 380 applicants and I am the only woman skipper."

The seed of competing in the Global Challenge was sown for Caffari when she saw the fleet leave Southampton in the BT Global Challenge 2000-01.

She started talking to people and planning her strategy to compete in similar races.

Her tactics paid off while skippering and managing Formula 1 Sailing's Farr 65s. After the selection process she received "the call" and was offered a job as a skipper.

So, the question she'll have to get used to answering is, how does it feel to be the only female skipper in the race? Has the glass ceiling in yacht racing been smashed or just cracked a little?

Caffari says while sailing is dominated by men there are plenty of female skippers such as Emma Richards, Tracey Edwards and Ellen MacArthur.

She says each of them is putting female skippers on the world stage and helping women become increasingly accepted among the yachting fraternity.

Caffari is quietly proud, and that's fair enough, but the pleasure of skippering the yacht in the Global Challenge race is tempered by some hefty responsibilities - 17 keen but unqualified crew members rely on her leadership, judgment and guidance.

While each skipper must be professionally qualified, their 17-person yacht crews need not be.

There are perils to such an adventure, as Caffari knows only too well.

Last month, during the 40-day second leg of the race from Buenos Aires to Wellington, one member of her crew become seriously ill and was airlifted off the yacht.

"He was ill at sea for about nine days. We had to guess the problem and administer drugs as we saw fit. It turned out he had a perforated bowel," says Caffari.

He was replaced with a standby crew member.

Asked if the stress of that emergency put a damper on her enjoyment of the race, Caffari chooses her words carefully.

"I have 17 crew on board, so 17 reasons for doing the race and 17 reasons to be happy about it."

She says while responsibility for others is the most stressful aspect of sitting where the buck stops, the challenge, sights, camaraderie and teamwork of skippering and yacht-racing make up for it.

Like any professional in any job, Caffari is single-minded with clear aspirations and goals. Highly competitive, she says people need to believe in their ability and have plenty of drive.

But can the bad things be life-threatening? Caffari admits the ocean can be an unforgiving work environment.

"That movie The Perfect Storm stretches [reality] a bit, but those sorts of seas can happen. There are situations where it is only healthy to have some fear; the power of the sea never fails to amaze me."

More commonly, she says, bad weather at sea affects the ability of people to look after themselves. Germs and viruses spread quickly on small vessels such as yachts, and clean water is precious.

"We rote water out and collect more as we go along. When the weather is calm it is a bit easier to take care of health and hygiene," says Caffari.

Some of the personal requirements for skippering have obvious parallels with other career sectors - tight teamwork, good communication skills, and tolerance for others.

"Try living within 72 feet with 17 people and having to tell someone you have only known for a few weeks that they smell," says Caffari.

While most businesses would decline that as a bonding exercise, the strategies Caffari uses to help people who are stuck together for weeks at sea get along may work just as well for those who spend years in an office with the same people.

"You need to make light of any little personal habits. Some people are fussy with their food so others say 'Oh God, just eat it'. But they need to be lighthearted about it. We also get a lot of snorers. Rather than have everyone get mad, I try to [have them sleep] forward on the boat and the others aft." Eeyore's on one side of the office and Tigger's on the other, perhaps?

Further business parallels can be drawn between Caffari's career and women in careers traditionally dominated by men. However, Caffari says gender differences are generally disregarded by those who have to deal with the sea.

"The men respect me and I have as much respect for them. However, I think being a woman helps with crew management. [Women] have a softer side and that helps if things get a bit [fractious]."

Caffari can see no end in sight for her unusual career.

"I've got no children and I'm not married. I'd like to progress up the ladder to fulltime racing, though that's dependent on support and sponsorship.

"I've sailed one way around the world and now I'd like to sail round the other way."

What you need to be a professional skipper

* Good navigational and computer skills
* Organisational and decision-making ability
* Business and bookkeeping skills
* Good communication and people-management skills
* A calm, unflappable nature when under pressure
* Good general fitness

New Zealand qualifications*

Boatmaster Certificate
RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Theory
RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore
Certificate in General Vessel Operations
NZ Local Launch Operator/Inshore Launchmaster Certificate
Diploma in Nautical Science
Certificate in Nautical Studies

*Selections depend on type of vessel to be skippered