The former PE teacher, who skippered the competition’s first female entry in 2012, arguably has more ocean racing miles on her clock than any other woman on the planet, having raced around the world five times – twice on her own, twice with crew and once two -handed.
Caffari is now intent on raising the women’s game in this year and says her crew for the 2016 race was carefully selected for that purpose.
“I have got a team together based on who I feel would be able to help the Omani girls develop whilst racing,” said Caffari, who took part in the last Volvo Ocean Race on all women’s boat Team SCA.
“We are coaching and racing at the same time so it can be quite demanding and we want the Omani girls to feel as if they have moved forwards in their skills and understanding of sailing by the end of the event.”
Joining Caffari as fellow coaching and racing experts are Stacey Jackson from Australia, Annemieke Bes from the Netherlands and former Al Thuraya skipper Mary Rook from Great Britain.
Some of that crew have sailed with the programme before including Omani sailor Ibtisam Al Salmi, one of the Middle East’s first professional female sailors.
“I remember the first event that Ibtisam took part in and she only did the in port races and not the offshore,” Caffari recalled.
“Now some years on she is the leader of the group. That shows how far she has come in a short space of time. We also have Marwa Al Khaifi and Tamadher Al Balushi who work as instructors for Oman Sail so they will bring fresh ideas.”
Caffari also added that she hoped this year’s competition would provide the perfect catalyst for even greater improvement of the female Omani sailors involved.
“The women’s team is all about changing perceptions of women in the Middle East. These girls are out there doing the same thing as the guys, sailing the same boats on the same water in the same conditions,” said Caffari.
“They are competitive and developing their skills. Their story is about so much more than just a yacht race and sometimes we forget that but these girls are literally moving barriers and changing people’s opinions of Arab women.”
The Oman Airports-Al Thuraya team will take to the waters on 15 February in Dubai at the beginning of the five leg 750 nm challenge.
The offshore race is seen as offering both professional and amateur racing teams the chance to sustain their training and competition programmes during the winter.
