Two British women will follow in the footsteps of Ellen MacArthur when they set off on the gruelling three month Vendee Globe sailing event tommorrow (sunday) .

Dee Caffari and Sam Davies are the only women competing in the 27,000-mile non-stop event. 30 skippers are racing in a fleet of Open 60s that are up to 75 per cent faster and more powerful than Ellen MacArthur’s Kingfisher, which came second in 2000.

There is no underestimating how tough this event is - being at sea for three months eating freeze-dried food, being wet and cold for days on end, using a bucket for a toilet, battling against horrendous storms and putting your life at risk. All this plus the fact that the boat may fail means that the attrition rate is likely to be higher than the 40 per cent recorded since the first race in 1989.

The women:

Dee Caffari, sponsored by Aviva, is 35 and lives in Fareham. She gave up being a PE teacher nine years ago to become a professional sailor. If she completes the race she could become the first woman to have raced around the world solo in both directions.

Sam Davies, sponsored by Roxy, is 34 and lives in Brittany, France. She is an accomplished sailor with an old but distinguished boat that has won two Vendee Globes.

Follow their progress on www.vendeeglobe.org

Danielle Sellwood, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine