Caffari braced for 'daunting' Vendee bid

(CNN) -- British sailor Dee Caffari is gearing up for her bid to earn a place in the record books for the second time.

The 35-year-old is already the first woman to circumnavigate the globe solo and non-stop the "wrong way" against the prevailing winds and currents.

And in November she will seek to do "the double" with the conditions in her favor when she competes in the 24,000-mile (38,624-kilometer) Vendee Globe race.

Caffari will be hoping to emulate Dame Ellen MacArthur, who became a household name after finishing second in the event in 2001.

"The Vendee is almost so daunting you can almost scare yourself about it," she told the UK Press Association.

"But I have never been in a position as fortunate as this. I have a boat that has been built for me and I am confident with the boat and learning about it and myself."

The former teacher slogged around the world "backwards" for 178 days in 2006, but goes into this race with a multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with Aviva.

She is now preparing for the Vendee with her new 60-foot (18.3-meter) yacht off the Portuguese coast as she seeks to bounce back from the harsh lesson of her last competitive solo outing.

Caffari had to be rescued when her yacht lost its mast in over 45 knots of wind off the northern coast of Spain during the single-handed transatlantic Transat Ecover-BtoB race from Brazil to France.

"I try not to think about the dangers. I try to be philosophical about it because otherwise you might not cross the road," she told PA.

The Vendee is the toughest solo race with a top-class fleet of experienced sailors, and has claimed two lives since it started in 1989.

Only French sailors have ever won it, with MacArthur's effort still the best by a British entrant.

Compatriot Mike Golding was the 16th sailor to sign up for the race, which begins on November 9.

Caffari, who was honored by Queen Elizabeth as a Member of the British Empire last October, can expect to be at sea for around three months alone if she completes the race.

"I am a sociable person but I like the boat to myself," she said. E-mail to a friend

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