'Sailing is about technique, not brute force'

Capt Patricia Caswell reveals why she loves boats and feels she belongs to the sea

- BY LAKSHANA N PALAT Assistant Features Editor

If Dubai's Captain Patricia Caswell ruled the world, we would all be sailing instead of sitting in traffic.

Caswell, who has nearly three decades of yachting behind her, doesn’t see herself as just a sailing captain; she belongs to the sea, as she says.

Now at Gulf Craft, Caswell, who is playing a key role in building a new shipyard in Ajman, says that if she isn’t at the factory where they’re building yachts, she is off fishing or busy with sailing races.

Her plan for this year? "I'm sailing the Southern Ocean at the end of the year. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do before I turn 50," she says. The journey will begin in Uruguay, then head towards South Africa, and finally Europe.

How it all started

Sharing the story of how it all began, she explains it took root in Australia. "It was all a bit of an accident. When I finished high school, my mother was kind enough to send me out on a big sailing cruise for a day, just so that I could see the islands and the reefs. I fell in love with it," she says.