Dee Caffari, who has just written a new chapter in the annals of yachting feats, will be swapping her heavy displacement yacht for a wave skimming multihull, when she joins the crew of “Team Basilica” in the Volvo Extreme 40 class. The team is based in Hayling Island and comprises Alistair Richard (helm), Pete Greenhalgh, James Grant and Jonathan Taylor.

Competing for the first time in an ISAF Category 4 race, the brand new state-of-the-art Volvo Extreme 40s will have their own start. These five fast and furious machines have been competing in a series of in-port races across the world, throughout the Volvo Ocean Race, and most recently during the Portsmouth stopover.

The current multihull record for the JPMAM Round the Island race was set in 2001 by Francis Joyon and stands at 3 hours 8 minutes 29 seconds. Could Dee and the VX40s beat it? They are said to be able to reach a speed of 35 knots and the race is some 50 miles long ?