Why we should save Tracy Edwards' Maiden
Iconic ships inspired both a love for the sea, and a 'can do' attitude, which is why saving the Whitbread yacht Maiden is important...
When I was a wee girl, my dad used to take me on daytrips to give my mum a break - I would have been a mere 2-3 years old, but my memories of those outings are vivid. They included trips to the National Maritime Museum, where I remember pressing buttons to make model engines move, and to see the Cutty Sark. Admittedly I remember the Cutty Sark more for the little sweet shop nearby where if I was lucky I'd get a small bag of "tom thumb drops", but I can remember sitting on my dad's shoulders and looking this big ship, while my dad impressed on me how important it was.
It would be another year or two before I got to go sailing myself, but as I grew, the sense of history and magic that the mix of stories, visits and sailing experiences instilled in me was the basis for what would become a lifelong love for the sea.
As a teenager, sailing became more and more of a passion, fueled by trips with family friends and the Ocean Youth Trust. When a certain Tracy Edwards and her all-female crew competed in the Whitbread Round the World Race (now Volvo Ocean Race) I was completely hooked. I wanted to be one of those girls, I wanted to look great in pink shorts and a crew t-shirt and most of all I wanted to show the world that I could be as good, if not better than the boys!
Maiden finishing in Ft Lauderdale in 1990. I desperately wanted a pair of those pink shorts, not to mention a Maiden swimsuit, but most of all I wanted to be one of her crew!
Maiden at the Whitbread (now Volvo) Race finish in 1990.
Breaking out the champagne at the finish in Southampton, 1990.
As it was, inshore racing was to prove a greater passion for me than offshore stuff - but what Tracy and her crew did for me was huge. They were such an inspiration, and kept me hooked on on the sport at a time when many young girls get drawn away by other interests. Their achievement also reinforced the 'can do' attitude my parents had given me; if I really wanted to do something I could, my gender was never, in my mind, an issue.
When I heard that Tracy was trying to get the boat back to the UK, restore her and get her sailing again, I signed up as soon as I could... there was no doubt in my mind that such an iconic boat should be saved to help inspire future generations.
As Tracy says: "The success of the original Maiden project was entirely due to the incredible people who became involved. Before we managed to raise the sponsorship every penny that went into the project was generated by volunteers selling T-shirts, balloons and badges at any event we could think of! We literally had strangers turning up on the doorstep asking what they could do to help. I remember walking into my kitchen one day and finding five people I had never laid eyes on stuffing envelopes with sponsorship letters! I guess this was crowd funding in its earliest form.
"Maiden was so much more than a bunch of girls proving they could race around the world. She means so much to so many people, not just in the UK but all over the world. She represented the will to succeed, the power of ordinary people when we come together to achieve something and how tenacity can overcome all odds. Maiden was a dream come true to some, an adventure to others and a triumph over adversity to many. To me she was and always will be the most magical part of my life at sea."
Read our update on this story as Maiden returns to the UK.
