A letter to Santa…

Competing in the Volvo Ocean Race is short on creature comforts. With the holidays approaching, Turn the Tide on Plastic skipper Dee Caffari penned this Christmas wish list to Santa from the Southern Ocean.

Dear Santa, on behalf of the crew of Turn the Tide on Plastic, we would like a couple of things for Christmas:

Dee Caffari

• Liz would like a general heater system for the boat, like everywhere, a drone, dry socks, dry wet weather gear, an ice-cream machine, a dry sleeping bag, and a teleportation machine to put us next to Mapfre.

• Elodie wants to be 300 miles forward, a dryer, and a surprise, because she likes surprises.

• Nicolas a stabilized navigation desk with an integrated bed and a rotating chart table, and a chocolate box.

• Dee would love a podium place, a leg win, a cold diet coke, a dryer boat.

• Martin has a long list so probably a book where he can write it all down.

• Lucas wants the Omega watch I’m wearing.

• Bleddyn wants a bike and a new neck because he’s getting soar.

Finally, the others were sleeping, so I personally thought about this boat and how we could, together with you Santa, make it better for everyone:

• There is a big empty space next to me in the middle, we could have a massive fridge full of fresh food, a freezer section to have some nice plates ready to be eaten and prepared by the best, not to forget an ice-maker for the cocktails.

• A micro wave because having pop corn on deck could be quite a trip.

• A heating seat and a heating bunk, as well as a special drying compartment like they do at the best hotels in ski resorts.

• An automated stacking system where basically everything just slides from one side to the other without doing a thing.

• A projector in the front compartment of the boat so we can play video games while we’re in the toilets and watch movies when the wind is very light.

• A full audio system for the boat so we can dance or relax at night and keep the sailors awake on deck.

• And anything else you might think of, please send it through as we accept any kind of deliveries.

Our current address is 43 South, 72 East but we will mainly be moving around in the Southern Ocean for the next few days. One last thing, there are six more like us around, we are the blue and white one with the sail that says CLEAN SEAS on it; your reindeer can’t miss it.

Cheers, Dee Caffari

To see Leg 3 crew lists… click here.

Race details – Live content – Scoreboard – Race route – Facebook – YouTube

The third leg started December 10 for the course from Cape Town, South Africa to Melbourne, Australia. The ETA is between the December 24 and 26.

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.