Dream team
After a brief time as rivals when the discipline of offshore double-handed racing fleetingly held Olympic status, Shirley Robertson OBE and Dee Caffari MBE teamed up at the start of this year to campaign a new Sun Fast 3300 provided by Nigel De Quervain Colleys’ Sea Ventures UK, the Swanwick based Jeanneau dealer. Their sights are set on one of sailing’s toughest races: the 1800nm Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland, run quadrennially by RORC. Now the clock is ticking down as the start of the race fast approaches.
On paper, the co-skippers make a formidable team: one a double gold Olympic medallist and the other has sailed around the world six times and was the first woman to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions. Both believe their skill sets are complementary, but the realities of coming from the complete opposite sides of the sport have meant a steep learning curve, intensified by an extremely short time frame.
A complex challenge
For Shirley, this is her third season of double-handed campaigning, having partnered with Henry Bomby in 2020 and 2021. Despite her experience, she is still adjusting to a discipline that she describes as “very complex” ahead of what will be, for her, by far the longest race yet.
“There are a lot of variables; you’re trying to keep the boat going at 100% in the right direction, thinking ‘are you on
