British sailing hero Dee Caffari (MBE), the skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic, with founding partner Mirpuri Foundation, led her team to a finish in Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race on Tuesday morning.
The team, including portuguese sailor Bernardo Freitas, received a heroes’ welcome, and skipper Caffari found some bright spots to celebrate once the team was dockside.“We had some of the best sailing the guys have done the entire race so they were buzzing,” Caffari said, referencing the record-breaking conditions mid-leg that saw some of the highest 24-hour runs in the history of the race.
“They have all now circumnavigated the globe and none of them had done that when we left. We have crossed our track from Leg 0, they’ve all gone round the world and I’m really proud of them.”
For Caffari, this race marks her fifth time around the world, including three non-stop circumnavigations.
For one of her crew, Bleddyn Mon, the finish line in Wales represented a homecoming of sorts, as he grew up sailing in Anglesey.
“This is a day I’ve looked forward to from the beginning of the project,” he said dockside just after finishing. “For me, offshore sailing is quite new and I was in at the deep end with the Volvo Ocean Race… But I’ve learned so much about how to manage myself offshore.”
Photo Credits: Jesus Renedo / VOR
