They were told no because they were womenThis is the true story that proved everyone wrong

In 1989, the very idea of a competitive all-female sailboat crew was nearly inconceivable to the manly world of open-ocean yacht racing. They’d never make it to the start of the Whitbread Round the World Race, much less survive to the finish. They’d never find funding. They didn’t have the strength or skill. They’d die at sea. Did that many professional female sailors even exist?

Tracy Edwards proved them wrong. 26-year-old skipper Edwards, her second-hand racing yacht Maiden, and her seasoned crew not only became the first-ever all-woman challenge to the Whitbread, they proved able competitors in the famously grueling race, besting male crews in their class. By the time they returned to their starting point at Southampton, England after 32,000 miles of global racing, they had shocked, inspired, and transfixed the sailing world and the British nation. Tracy Edwards was awarded the 1990 Yachtsman of the Year Award, the first woman ever to receive the accolade, and was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Maiden’s story does not begin in such glory. Unlike most of her Maiden crewmates, Edwards did not grow up in a sailing family. After her beloved father died when she was 10, conflict at home with an antagonistic, alcoholic stepfather drove Tracy to anger and rebellion. Although her supportive and adventurous mother stood by her always, Tracy dropped out of school and ran away at 16, finding refuge around island resorts among the hard-partying tribe of boat crew gypsies, working as a cook and stewardess. Sailing represented freedom—and she then set her sights on experiencing the world’s biggest sailing event, the Whitbread Round the World Race that circumnavigated the globe every three years (known since 2001 as the Volvo Ocean Race). In 1985 she managed—barely—to find a berth as a cook on a British boat in the 4th Whitbread Race, observing and absorbing as much as she could about racing “when they’d let me up on deck.” After that exciting taste of the sport—along with the bitter taste of the sport’s pervasive sexism—Edwards became determined to skipper her own boat in the 5th Whitbread, in 1989- 90.

The obstacles were daunting. Racing requires massive financial support, and corporate sponsors were leery of attaching their names to a novel and potentially disastrous effort led by an untried girl in her twenties. When the yachting press paid attention at all, it was to treat Edwards and her campaign as an amusing curiosity.

She didn’t even have her own boat till she found an old racing yacht, beat-up but still sound. Edwards put everything on the line, mortgaging her house to pay for the 58-foot aluminum monohull previously named Disque D’Or and later Prestige, a veteran of two earlier Whitbread races that had performed well. She had been designed to be relatively easily handled on long ocean passages—but when Edwards bought her, she was in disrepair, “a wreck with a pedigree” as Edwards called her.

Edwards may have lacked funds, but what she did have in strength was a knack for finding and inspiring talent. Highly skilled professional women sailors did indeed exist, and they signed on to fight alongside Edwards for recognition, opportunity, and passion for their sport. One of the first to join was Tracy’s girlhood best friend, confidante, and moral support Joanna Gooding, who came aboard as cook (and behind-the-scenes videographer). Many of the crew members had far more sailing knowledge and experience than Edwards herself, but her relentless determination made her a leader, even when she battled exhaustion and self-doubt.

To get to the Whitbread start line in the first place, the crew rolled up their sleeves to painstakingly tear down and refurbish Maiden in the venerable Hamble shipyard, a traditionally male bastion. By carrying out the refurb themselves, the crew knew every cable, bolt, and latch on the boat—which proved life-saving when they were able to diagnose and repair a leak at sea off Cape Horn. Edwards and crew adapted the boat to compensate for the lesser physical strength of a female crew but to benefit their talents; for example, the foresails were smaller than those on their competitors’ male-crewed yachts because they require frequent changing. Because the Maiden crew could muscle their way quickly through resetting foresails, they could use sail changes strategically. Maidenn wore the colors of Royal Jordanian Airlines, the sponsor Tracy finally secured through the patronage of Jordan’s King Hussein.

The story of Maiden’s upstart, defiant run at the Whitbread Round the World Race has all the elements of an epic adventure tale—50-foot waves, life and death drama, near-mutiny, thrilling victory—grounded in a perceptive group portrait of a team of courageous young women led by the remarkable, complicated Tracy Edwards. They pioneered the sport of long-distance racing for the women who followed and inspired women in all fields to prove themselves the equal of men.

The Maiden & The Whitbread

The Whitbread Round the World Race began in 1973, sponsored by Britain’s Whitbread, a brewery that evolved into a hotel and hospitality chain. The race, held every three years, switched sponsors in 2001 and is now known as the Volvo Ocean Race.
Maiden competed in the 5th WRTWR which comprised several classes of different boat sizes and six legs totalling 32,000 nautical miles. In more recent years, smaller yachts such as Tracy Edwards’ 58-foot Maiden no longer run the Volvo Ocean Race, which is dominated by bigger yachts racing more and shorter legs.
Maiden won two of the legs, the longest and shortest, in the 5th WRTWR and came in second overall in her class, the best result for a British boat in 17 years, and still remaining the best result ever for an all-female crew.

September 2, 1989

Southampton, England to Punta del Este, Uruguay

5,938 miles
Observers and commentators professed surprise that Maiden managed to finish the first leg, third out of four in their class.

October 28, 1989

Punta del Este to Fremantle, Australia, the Southern Ocean crossing

7,260 miles
As skipper, Tracy determined navigation, choosing the daring strategy of sailing the most southerly route, which was most direct but also challenging, with huge seas and icebergs. 52 days at sea in extreme conditions. Creighton’s Naturally, a contestant in a larger boat class, lost two men overboard in frigid seas. They were recovered with hypothermia. Maiden was the closest vessel, and the medic onboard, Claire Warren, instructed the Creighton’s crew by radio in resuscitating the men. One survived. Maiden won the 2nd leg for her class.

December 23, 1989

Fremantle to Auckland, New Zealand

3,272 miles
The shortest leg. Maiden again wins this leg.

February 4, 1990

Auckland to Punta del Este

6,255 miles
Over this and the following leg, the 18-hour overall lead time in class that Maiden had built up on her winning legs 2 and 3 evaporated on legs 4 and 5 due to 100 days at sea with little wind followed by pounding waves that caused a leak around the mainmast. With the boat taking on water in open sea, the crew was able to find and patch the leak, but time was lost.

Punta del Este to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

5,475 miles
By the end of this leg, Maiden was 16 hours behind the class leader, the Belgian boat Rucanor.

May 5, 1990

Ft. Lauderdale to Southampton

3,818 miles
Despite low wind, Maiden regains some time in this leg. When Rucanor is stuck on a sand bank off the coast of England Maiden is just behind her. L’Esprit de Liberté wins the leg and the overall race in Division D with Maiden second and Rucanor placing third. But for the thousands of spectators on shore and the swarm of yachts and dinghies accompanying Maiden into port, it was a momentous triumph for the hometown yacht Maiden, her intrepid crew, and her inspiring skipper, Tracy Edwards.

“Seeing the documentary, once again, made me realize that the achievement of Maiden was truly a historic first, something I believe that most of us—to this day—have not always been able to comprehend.”

Mikaela Von Koskull

“For all of us it was a big dream that came true. The trust and respect for each other, the strong sisterhood of my Maiden friends makes me feel strong in difficult times."

Tanja Visser

"If what we did inspired people and changed misconceptions then that is a very good thing that happened from something that was so enjoyable."

Sally Creaser Hunter

Then & Now

Tracy Edwards

MBE · Skipper

Tracy Edwards is the central figure in Maiden, the documentary feature about her successful effort to compete in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race skippering the first all- female crew.

more

Jo Gooding

Cook, Videographer

“When we were on Maiden we didn't really take much notice of the negative things that were being said. Even when it was said that we could die and that would be a tragedy— we agreed it would be and no-one had any intention of dying!”

more

Marie-Claude Kieffer Heys

First Mate

As First Mate she played a key role in Maiden’s intensive six-month tear-down and refit project and devoted two years to preparations for Maiden’s Whitbread campaign.

more

Dawn Riley

Watch Captain, Diver, Engineer

As Watch Captain on Maiden, she and her co-captain Michèle Paret traded shifts on deck command while Skipper Tracy Edwards typically focused on strategy and navigation. Dawn’s physical strength also served her as Driver and Engineer.

more

Michèle Paret

Watch Captain and Helm

Michèle met and raced with Marie-Claude Keiffer in France, joined Maiden with her, and took Marie-Claude’s position when she left the team. She became one of the two watch captains under Tracy.

more

Sally Creaser Hunter

Helm, Safety Equipment

"It took a lot of skill and physical strength to keep that boat going fast in the right direction in some very heavy sea and wind conditions."

more

Jeni Mundy

Foredeck

Maiden was Jeni’s first experience of professional sailing. She did go on to complete the Whitbread Race again four years later.

more

Tanja Visser

Foredeck and Sailmaker

In addition to her jobs as bowman and sailmaker, Tanja brought a dental emergency kit onboard as she was already a professional dentist. She also helmed, and did some of the video filming and still photography.

more

Mikaela Von Koskull

Watchwoman, Helm, Deck Hardware

Mikaela is the only sailor to have taken part in all three of Tracy Edwards’ sailing ventures: the ’89 Maiden campaign; the 2001 Maiden catamaran outing; and the launch of the Maiden Factor.

more

Claire Russell

Sail Trimmer, Medic

When Claire heard an-all female crew was being put together and needed a doctor she signed up straight away.

more

Amanda Swan Neal

Rigger

Amanda’s 335,00 miles of ocean sailing include two Sydney-Hobart Races, numerous international regattas and seven Cape Horn roundings intermixed with a ten-year involvement in tall ship sail-training.

more

Nancy Harris

Sail Trimmer, Deck Hardware

"When we screened the film, it was good to show my family a part of my life they really didn’t know much about."

more

Angela Heath

Sail Trimmer

A chance encounter with Tracy Edwards in a bar in Cork led to her competing in the Fastnet Race with the Maiden team.

more

Sarah Davies

Reserve Crew Member

Having spotted a small advert in Yachts and Yachting for crew wanted for Maiden, with leave of absence granted by the Army, she joined the team as reserve crew nine months before the race.

more

Howard Gibbons

Project Manager

The all-female Maiden crew actually had several men as well as women on shore crew, led by Howard Gibbons, who managed project planning and land operations from the very start of the campaign.

more

Filmmakers