Leeds Metropolitan University
Summer Graduation 2006
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Honorary Doctorates |
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Winter Graduation 2006 |
Dee Caffari
Denise Caffari, known to her friends as Dee, is an inspiring yachtswoman and world record breaker.
On receiving her Honorary Doctorate, Dee Caffari said, “I’m pleased to say that I have lots of memories from nine years ago. As I was coming up the driveway towards the campus today the memories really came flooding back. It was 1991 when I first stepped into the James Graham Building. I had four years of a lot of fun, hard work, great friends and good company. I recall a lot of good times.
“When I first arrived I had no idea where being here would take me in the future. I think that a little seed was planted early on. Working with Carlton (Cooke) and Eddy (Lloyd) I knew I had picked the right choice in this course. Carlton Cooke planted the seed which sailed me into history.”
Addressing the graduands, Dee said, “It is very important that you pick the right team to get behind you. I picked the right team in my course here.
“It is an honour to rejoin the team that got me to where I am today. This is a venturing pioneer that follows on the Carnegie spirit so well,” she added.
Dee has had a long held love of sailing, having first experienced it as a child with her father and later becoming a dinghy instructor at university. Graduating from Leeds Met with a BA (Hons) in Human Movement Studies in 1994 and a PGCE in 1995, she became a secondary school PE teacher. After five years, the bug to travel the world took hold and she decided a life on the water was the way forward. Following two year’s experience with a yacht charter company both in the UK and the Caribbean , Dee was ready to take on her next challenge, The Global Round the World Race. Her opportunity came in 2004/5, whilst skippering and managing Formula 1 Sailing’s Farr 65s, she received the ‘call’ and was offered a job as a professional skipper in the fleet of Sir Chay Blyth.
In the 2004/05 Global Challenge she successfully skippered 18 amateur yachtsmen around the world. Dee was the only female skipper in the race and proved herself more than capable of handling the physical and mental demands of directing an amateur crew for six weeks at a time over seven gruelling legs. It was during this challenge that the seed of the idea to become the first solo female to sail around the world, west about was planted by Sir Chay, the first person to complete the same voyage in 1971.
Her latest challenge began in November 2005 and after 178 days, 3 hours at sea covering 29,227 miles and with no crew, no glamorous stopovers and very little sleep, she crossed the finishing line on the 18 May. During her voyage she encountered 12 huge storms and took 3 frightening days to carefully navigate through an iceberg field all day and all night. To put her achievement into perspective – more people have walked on the moon than have completed an unassisted solo journey west about.
In addition to completing a sailing ‘first’, Dee is also the figurehead and promoter of ‘Complete Confidence by Caffari’, a high calibre workshop aimed at forward thinking businesses. With the tools and techniques she used to ensure that she would become a record breaker she inspires and motivates people in the business world.
HONORARY AWARDS 2006
Saturday 22nd July
Friday 21st July
Thursday 20th July
Wednesday 19th July