Navigating her way to a world record
It was a miserable, rainy day in Sussex. Ninety-year-old Dorothy Caldwell was in England for the summer with her son, Alastair, and often kept him company in the passenger seat during his rally racing.
While her 74-year-old son normally took on the navigation responsibilities, today’s conditions were horrendous and he could barely see.
Dorothy picked up the heavy navigating book, full of maps, directions, symbols and time caps.
‘‘I thought, oh this looks all right to me – I’ll do it.’’
Now, at 98 years of age, Caldwell is officially in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest rally navigator.
‘‘It’s not a thing I ever aspired to. It’s not a thing I ever thought of being, you know.
‘‘My boys, when they were little, would have thought it was cool and the family think it’s nice.’’
Caldwell has perfect eyesight – she doesn’t need to wear glasses.
And she has travelled the world rally circuit as her son’s navigator, racing with Alastair in his 1963 Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce.
Her first rally tour was in 2012, where they raced from New York to Alaska, and through Canada for three weeks. All up, they clocked 38,000 miles, or just over 61,000 kms.
‘‘Rally tours are not speed rallying, you must stick to the official speed. But you use the clock to keep track of where you are meant to be during the day.
‘‘Although it still is very competitive. We always come first in our class.’’
Her favourite rally was the Road to Mandalay, where she navigated through Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma).
‘‘It was similar to New Zealand in some ways. I enjoyed the offroad routes and the landscape.’’
She said in most rallies there were between 25 and 40 cars. ‘‘It is mainly women that navigate, so the wives of the drivers, usually. We are a close bunch, and keep in contact from all over the world.’’
Caldwell moved to New Zealand with her husband and three boys in 1950, from England.
‘‘I’ve been sitting in cars with people for years and years. My father, uncles and then my sons, were all mad about cars.’’
To be a navigator there is only one condition: You must have a driver’s licence.
Caldwell recently renewed her licence, although she has only just given up driving.
She plans to navigate one last time in November, at the Haka Rally, which starts in Auckland and heads to Wanaka before ending back in Auckland. It is a busy three weeks, with the cars driving most of the day, from 8am until 4.30pm.
‘‘That’s going to be my last one. I really enjoy it, I don’t mind sitting there all day.’’
Caldwell said working as her son’s navigator had brought the two closer together.
‘‘I’m the person in his life and he’s the person in my life.’’