NEWS
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Tracy Edwards is behind the record-breaking all-female Maiden crew who have just won the Ocean Globe Race. Her two round-the-world campaigns with Maiden have fundamentally changed sailing for women. Here she talks exclusively to Yachting Monthly.
Tracy Edwards has led Maiden and her all-female crew on a remarkable journey, not once, but twice. This time winning the Ocean Global Race, showing what young women can achieve, while also promoting diversity and supporting girls’ education around the world through her charity The Maiden Factor.
‘I’m over the moon. To have Maiden be the first all-female crew to sail around the world, now to be the first all-female crew to win an around-theworld race is just perfect. I’ve loved being the person that facilitated it.
‘Maiden changed the face of sailing in the ‘89-90 Whitbread race by putting women firmly in the room. Whoopi Goldberg became our first patron. She looked me square in the eye and she said, “Why is sailing so white?” And I thought, oh, I’ve never thought about that. I’d been so busy trying to get women into sailing, I didn’t realise or didn’t think – they all look like me. And I thought, well, that’s the next thing to tackle, isn’t it? Sport needs to be open to everyone.’
Maiden’s philosophy for this race was that a young woman from any inhabited continent should be able to look at this racing yacht and see herself there.
‘Maiden is a British boat but we are very clear we want to represent the women of the world. This time, rather than look in this very shallow pool of incredible women sailors, what we did was to look further afield in places where people don’t usually look.’
During The Maiden Factor four-year global tour, Edwards approached the National Sailing Academy in Antigua and charity Sail Africa in Durban, among other groups. The result was a diverse crew representing nine nations: UK, America, Puerto Rico, Italy, France, Antigua, South Africa, Afghanistan, India. (See page 63)
‘There were some inexperienced sailors on the boat, but they all had something to offer. Every single one of them tried out to be on that boat and deserved to be there.’
What made the diff
