Maiden’s Tracy Edwards in our home (virtually)

Jan 28, 2021

the winning Maiden crew celebrates

We were ALL home, and most of us are parked in front of our computers with nothing to do. So, Thomas Fogh got busy last March and started a Wednesday Speakers night at Port Credit YC, which continued into the late spring. Fast forward to January 2021 and he is at it again with a ramped-up program including movie nights! This really got my attention as the first movie scheduled to show on January 15 was Maiden. I had seen it before (it played at TIFF, was picked up by SONY and now is available on CRAVE), but loved it so much I wanted to see it again. The bonus, this time, was that Thomas had arranged an interview with the skipper, Tracy Edwards!

Tracy and Maiden Jan 2017

With 80 viewers from across the GTA, Ontario and Canada on the video call, Tracy was peppered with questions and entertained us all for an hour with scary tales, funny events and adventures. Not only was she the skipper and navigator of the first all female crew to enter the Whitbread Around the World Race, she is also the author of three books, the first woman to be bestowed the Yachtsman and Sportsman of the Year Awards in 1990, and is now head of the Maiden Factor tour around the world to promote girls’ education. As the saying goes, “If you educate a girl, you educate the world.”

Born in Reding, England and now living in London she got her start when her mom knew that she had to get her out of the house and on an adventure, after being kicked out of school. Mom sent her on a backpacking trip when she was only 16 to Greece. While working in a restaurant she was approached by a customer who asked her is she wanted to be a stewardess on a yacht charter. She jumped at the chance and 4 days in knew for certain that this was what she wanted to do. The more time she spent at sea, the more adventurous she became and then wanted to race.

But in 1984 girls didn’t race on boats that sailed offshore – but she was able to land a job as a cook in the 1985-1986 Whitbread as one of only three females in the race. The men on her boat didn’t want her there, they put her through the wringer, but she also learned the basics from them about how the boat worked. However, her dream was still only that as she wanted to be a navigator, not a cook on the race. Her mother had always said to her, “If you don’t like the world the way it is, then change it.” As luck would have it, she had a chance meeting with King Hussein of Jordan who was intrigued with her plan and told that if she put the project together to find a boat and an all-female crew, he would help her.

A lot of the crew were women she knew, but most of the women found her! In the end there nine nationalities comprising the team. Getting the money for the boat and the race was the hard part because if they failed it would be bad PR. Again, King Hussein came to the rescue and bought them a used boat. The only way to tackle the boat was to gut it. They were probably the first women to set foot in a boatyard and did all the work themselves, all while working other jobs. Lots of big-name men helped them, but quietly (Don’t tell anyone we are ding this) with advice. Not only did they give them advice, but also used parts and even used paint!

They wanted to win, but everyone else just wanted them to survive. People would even walk right up to Tracy and say, “You are going to die.” They couldn’t fail. If they did, all the women after them would have this albatross around their necks. Presently there is not the problem of women being on the race, it still remains women trying to raise the money. After the first leg of the 1989-90 Whitbread Race Around the World, they were gutted after placing third, but everyone one else were just happy that they had made it. They had wanted to win! And sure enough they did – winning both legs two and three. Unfortunately, they did not win the last leg. However, at the finish line, the spectators didn’t come out to see the winning boat, they came out to see the all-female boat!

Fast forward 2014 and Alex Holmes found Maiden rotting in a boatyard. It was Tracy’s daughter who convinced her to use Maiden to raise funds for girls’ charities. This time it was King Hussein’s daughter who had the boat shipped back to England and recommissioned. Sailing her now is different with no running backstays, changed rigging and the deck layout to move from a crew of 12 to a crew of six. After 30 years the boat can now be found in Antigua after sailing to 30 destinations and 22 countries they have started on a new journey. Tracy has never been happier or felt more complete.

The novice crews are winning races in the Caribbean – now proof that a girl can do anything if she believes in it. Working with the concept of STEM education (empowering people with knowledge, technology & skills for a better future), girls now realize that they can get a job through STEM, which will lead to a place on a boat like Maiden. The Maiden Factor is now developing a toolbox for girls to get where they want to go, with a message of hope to action eventually going to the United Nations. We can get the young girls into sailing, but how do we keep them once they become teenagers? Parents can play a role, but even more importantly, according to Dawn Riley (who was on the original Maiden), we need female coaches to keep these young girls motivated and involved.

Tracy’s final words were zeroed in on the youngsters on the call to never turn down an invitation to get on a boat, just keep asking to get on others. Nothing prepares you better than preparation. Be careful when picking your team – that you want good team players. It’s easy to beat ourselves up when we don’t do well or get discouraged but remember that resilience will get you to the finish line.

The Maiden Factor came to Vancouver in 2019 and have some amazing projects for 2021. Specifically they are looking into the timing for a trip to the Great Lakes with Chicago and then on to Toronto. Want to get involved?

https://www.themaidenfactor.org

-Katie Coleman Nicoll