Maiden: Racing to Create Space for Women In Sailing
On September 2nd, 1989, Maiden and her crew of twelve women began the fifth ever Whitbread Round The World Race, now named The Ocean Race. These skilled female sailors would smash expectations and set world records during this nine-month-long race around the world! Follow along Tracey Edward's journey from backpacking around Europe at the age of 16 to building her own racing team, purchasing her own boat, and placing 2nd in one of the most prestigious races in the sailing world!
Tracey Edwards was born in 1962 in Pangborn, UK, and had left home at 16. She backpacked around Europe, working several different boat jobs aboard ships, from a stewardess, a deckhand, and even first mate. One day, Edwards, got a last-minute call from a friend who needed a last stewardess aboard a yachting trip with an incredibly special customer, King Hussien of Jordan.
During the trip, the King became enamored by Edwards and fell into a conversation with her about the prestigious Whitbread Round The World Race. The King said that she must do it; it was too exciting for a sailor of her tenacity not to.
Tracey set her mind to the goal and found her way aboard the sailing yacht, Atlantic Privateer for the 1985/86 Whitbread Race, though not as intended. Tracey would be stuck below deck as a cook for most of the time even though she wanted to be on deck racing the boat as part of the crew. As depicted in the documentary Maiden, it wasn’t easy for Edwards to get on the boat in the first place. Edwards recalled the skipper saying, “We’re not having a girl. We’re not going to be the only professional racing team in the world with a girl on the boat. Girls are for when you get into port.”
Edwards persevered during her time on the Atlantic Privateer, and she knew that the only way for women to be above deck during a race was to sail with other women. She needed to put together a full female team for the Whitbread Race, so she recruited ten skilled women sailors to race it with her. The crew would be Tracy Edwards (skipper), Mandi Swan (Amanda Swan Neal), Mikaela Von Koskull, Claire Warren, Michele Paret, Tanja Visser, Sally Creaser, Dawn Riley, Nancy Hill, Jeni Mundy, Jo Gooding (from Leg 2), Sarah Davies (reserve), Kristin Harris (Leg 1), and Angela Farrell.
Financing the voyage and securing a sponsor did not fare well, and Tracey had to remortgage her house to purchase and renovate a boat for her team. As it came closer to the race, her team still did not have a sponsor. No one wanted to fund a full women's boat because businesses were worried about what would happen if they lost or, worst, got hurt or wrecked. Finally, Tracey reached out to an old friend of hers, King Hussein of Jordan, who agreed to sponsor her team with Royal Jordanian Airlines.
On September 2nd, 1989, Maiden and her crew of twelve women began the fifth Whitbread Round The World Race. The first of six legs ran from Southhampton, UK to Punta Del Este, Uruguay.
In the documentary, Howard Gibbons, project manager for Maiden, recalls that among the press, none of them thought the girls would make it. “The closest to home was that they would only get as far as The Needles (in the English Channel), then some people thought they might get as far as The Canary Islands. But none of them thought they would get to the end of Leg One in Uruguay.” Yet the crew made it, surprisingly coming in 3rd for that leg. They were determined to do better, they wanted to win.
On the second leg of the nine-month-long race, they sailed from Uruguay through the rough Southern Ocean to Fremantle, Australia. They were determined to better than the first leg, and risked a more southerly route than any of the other boats, sailing through icebergs and fighting off frostbite. Their bravery and extra efforts paid off as they arrived first in their class in Freemantle. The third leg, from Freemantle to Auckland was the shortest leg but the most tactical of the race. Maiden’s crew gave it their all and once again came in first, leaving the world in a state of shock.
The fourth leg routed Maiden back into the Southern Ocean where they enjoyed an almost 24-hour lead on the run back to Uruguay. However, this leg would prove to be the most difficult as the crew would have to round Cape Horn, one of the toughest challenges in the world. Maiden was slammed by giant waves, which caused a leak around the mast section of the vessel. The experience the women gained from preparing the boat before the race, gave them the knowledge they needed to patch up the leak quickly. This setback resulted in the loss of the lead the team had earned by the time they made it Punta Del Este. On the fifth leg, which took them from Punta Del Este to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the team continued to lose their lead, and morale amongst the team was starting to sink. So naturally, the crew took advantage of some lay days in the race and took a trip to Disneyworld for a morale boost before the start of the sixth and final leg.
On May 5th, 1990, Maiden started for the finish back to Southhampton. This leg was not without its challenges, as the crew navigated through a tornado and ran out of food rations in the final five days. Their hardships and perseverance were not without reward, as Maiden took second place in their class, this was the best result for a British competitor in 17 years, a record that has not been beaten by a British boat since. After the race sold Maiden, and the women went their separate ways.
In 2018, the Maiden crew came together once again to film a documentary about their experience and to raising funds for womens' education through their charity “The Maiden Factor.”
Next Time On the #WFCBlog
One of Maiden’s crew members, Dawn Riley, will join me this week for an interview about the voyage, her sailing career, and the struggles she faced breaking barriers for women everywhere.
Dawn is currently the Executive Director of Oakcliff sailing who’s goal is to build America’s leaders through sailing.
