Dee and Shirley team up offshore

Two of Britain’s most successful female sailors, Shirley Robertson and Dee Caffari, have teamed up for a 2022 double-handed offshore campaign, building up to the 1,800-mile Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race.

Dee Caffari and Shirley Robertson will be racing together on a new Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300, supplied by Seaventures UK, having competed separately on boats of the same design last season.

The pair need little introduction. Caffari has made six circumnavigations, three of them solo, two eastabouts. She skippered a Volvo Ocean Race team and a Global Challenge entry, completed a solo Vendée Globe, and a double-handed Barcelona World Race. Last season she was racing with 22-year-old James Harayda, winning the RORC Double Handed National Championship.

Shirley Robertson is one of sailing’s most successful Olympic female athletes, having scored double Olympic Golds in Sydney and Athens.

She skippered an entry in the Extreme Sailing Series, and regularly competes on the superyacht circuit.

Robertson discovered a new love of offshore racing with the burgeoning double-handed offshore scene. Last season she campaigned with Ocean Race and Figaro sailor Henry Bomby, the pair coming 2nd in the competitive Rolex Fastnet Race double-handed division.

Robertson said: “The double-handed offshore scene has grown hugely here in the UK, and although it’s relatively new to me, the last two seasons have been great racing. I’m really looking forward to sailing with Dee for 2022, to be sailing with such an accomplished offshore athlete is very exciting.”

Caffari added: “With our collective experience, we have a complimentary skill set. I know, from competing against her last season, that Shirley knows how to sail a boat fast, so I’m delighted that we’ll be joining forces.”