Nationalité : Anglaise
Lieu de résidence : Londres
Date de naissance : 13/04/1980
Profession : Skipper

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Palmarès :

2005 :
- OSTAR

2004 :
- Round the Island
- Rolex Regatta, St. Thomas.
- BVI Spring Regatta, British Virgin Islands
- Heineken Regatta, St. Martin.
- Antigua Race Week
- Two-boat testing “PYEWACKET” versus “MORNING GLORY

2003 :
- Round Block Island Race
- NYYC Annual Regatta
- Block Island Race Week
- Annapolis-Newport Offshore Race
- Marblehead-Halifax Offshore Race
- Stamford-Vineyard Offshore Race
- Antigua Race Week
- Antigua Classic Regatta
- Heineken Regatta, St. Martin

2001 :
- Kings Cup Regatta, Thailand

Portrait :

Aurelia Ditton grew up playing tournament chess for Suffolk, but the sailing influence was inescapable. Her parents had boats, her uncles had boats, her Grandparents raced wooden classics. Every holiday began in a boat yard.

Then a student of Chelsea College of Art, London Aurelia flew to India in 1999 to learn stone carving. Subsequently in Thailand for a spot of beach culture, Aurelia arrived in Phuket the night before the King’s Cup Yacht Regatta. A week of light-air racing led to a crew position on a delivery back to England. Stopping in 10 different countries and spanning 7 months, the adventure twice brushed with pirates as they battled up the Red Sea.

‘This is not real sailing! You need to experience the trade winds, where the wind blows a steady 25kts every day!’ Everyone Aurelia met on the delivery pointed her to the Caribbean. The following 5 months were spent hitch-hiking through its islands on a variety of different boats.

On arrival in America, Aurelia began to be offered serious work. ‘I realised that there was a yachting industry and that people would pay me good money to go sailing!’ After four years of skippering yachts, Aurelia slipped into the East Coast US racing scene with a season on the down-wind sled, ‘Bright Star,’ a Reichel/Pugh 78. Part of a slick team of Volvo and America’s Cup professionals, Aurelia’s racing proficiency stepped up to a new level. A trimming position on ‘Rosebud,’ a Transpac 52, followed suit. They won every regatta.

Aurelia’s first transatlantic crossing from West to East was on a famous 60ft multihull called ‘Moxie’ which had won a transatlantic race called the OSTAR (Observer Single-Handed Transatlantic Race) in 1980. Inspired by Ellen Macarthur, Aurelia set out to enter her first solo race.

During a hard crossing, where only 18 of 43 entrants completed the 2005 Faraday Mill OSTAR, Aurelia sailed 'Shockwave', a 34ft trimaran, to finish 5th in class. She was the youngest competitor and the only woman to finish. Her sights are firmly set on winning the 40ft monohull class in this year’s Route de Rhum Single-Handed Transatlantic Race.

Aurelia Ditton is a regular feature writer for Yachting World Magazine and TheDailySail.com