Tracy Edwards

British sailor

Tracy Edwards, MBE (born 5 September 1962) is a British sailor. In 1989 she skippered the first all female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, becoming the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and was appointed MBE. She has written two books about her experiences.

Edwards spent her early years in Pangbourne, England, with dreams of becoming a ballet dancer like her mother, but began to get into trouble after the death of her father when she was 10 and her subsequent relocation with her mother and stepfather to Wales. She left home and backpacked across Europe at the age of 16 after her expulsion from school, then signed on as a stewardess of a yacht in Piraeus, which was her introduction to sailing. During a stopover in the United States she met King Hussein I of Jordan, who encouraged her to join the crew of a round the world yacht and who would later arrange a sponsorship from Royal Jordanian Airlines, funding that allowed her yacht Maiden to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. Prior to this, Edwards served in several positions on other yachts, including deckhand and first mate, before entering her first Whitbread in the 1985–1986 competition. Based on the small ratio of women in the race – five out of 200 – she determined to enter in 1989 with an entirely female crew. As a result, she garnered worldwide attention and praise and was awarded the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and an MBE honour. In 1990, Edwards detailed her story in the book, Maiden, co authored with Tim Madge. Thereafter, Edwards started a family and began managing sailing programmes. In 2000 she undertook a new round the world sailing venture, Maiden 2, an attempt to claim the Jules Verne Trophy with a 110 foot maxi catamaran. This attempt ended with the boat being dismasted off of the coast of Chile. She is single, and has a daughter (aged 14 in 2014).

In 2014, Edwards discovered that Maiden was abandoned in poor condition in a marina in the Indian Ocean. Maiden returned to Southampton aboard a cargo ship in April 2017. Edwards and four of her Whitbread campaign crewmates were present to be reunited with their old boat. With external funding the boat was restored in Hamble, Southampton. With inspiration from King Hussein (and subsequently supported by his daughter, Princess Haya), Edwards founded "The Maiden Factor" which will utilise Maiden to raise funds and awareness for girls' education. It was planned to re launch Maiden in the summer of 2018 and in September 2018 depart from Southampton Boat Show with a new crew of women, on a three year world tour. The yacht left Hamble in November, but had to call into Plymouth for repairs. When they can continue, their first scheduled stop will be Kerala, India. They were underway again, headed for the Strait of Gibraltar, on 26 November.