Opposite: not their best leg by a long way – Maiden won their class on two Southern Ocean stages in the 1989/90 Whitbread race – but this shot of the girls’ arrival in Fort Lauderdale would go on to become one of the most widely published sailing photos of all time… coast to coast, sailing newsletter to The New York Times. Left: not such a joyous picture when the yacht was rediscovered in the Seychelles
it. One night during the stopover in Punta del Este I was sharing a beer with her and some of the crew from Drum. Tracy was probably more than a little in her cups when she announced that screw the job as a cook, she was going to be the skipper in the next Whitbread Race and furthermore she was going to lead the first-ever all- female team. Definitely the beer talking, I thought. Turns out I was dead wrong. With not much more than an idea and
an overdraft Tracy announced her inten- tion to anyone who would listen. She named her project Maiden Great Britain, with Maiden being a play on the words ‘Made in’, but despite the catchy name more than 350 British companies had soon turned her down. Meanwhile, she carefully trod that fine line of looking as if the project had money – when in fact they had neither money nor boat. Then one night Tracy had an epiphany:
she would mortgage her house to buy a boat. Through a broker they found a falling- apart 55-footer that had participated in the 1981/82 Whitbread as Disque d’Or under Swiss skipper Pierre Fehlmann. It was aban- doned behind a warehouse in Cape Town but it was love – or necessity – at first sight. She bought the boat and made arrangements to ship it to England. It was a gutsy move, as many will attest; the purchase price is just the beginning. An old boat – especially a big old boat – will suck through your resources faster than you would believe. Buying a boat might have been gutsy
but it was of little help. Tracy and her small team of helpers were still being turned down everywhere they looked. It seemed as if there was no appetite for an all-female crew in the Whitbread Race despite the enormous amount of attention they would surely receive. Nearing desper- ation and fearing her bank manager might pick up the phone at any moment, instead Tracy picked up the phone herself. She pulled out King Hussein’s business card and dialled. She was put right through. ‘Is there any way a company in Jordan would be interested in sponsoring us?’ she asked.
‘Leave it with me,’ the King replied and the rest, as they say, is history. Jordan is a majority Muslim country
and like most Middle East countries their track record on how women have been treated is sketchy at best, but that didn’t stop the King inviting Tracy and her project manager Howard Gibbons to his country. The King personally showed Tracy and Howard around the country, flying them in a military helicopter. After several days of meetings with businesses a deal was inked where Royal Jordanian Airlines would become the principal spon- sor. In addition to cold, hard cash the King gave Tracy permission to use his personal mark, a crown, on a new Maiden logo. Somehow through persistence, risk-
taking, hard work and a bit of luck Tracy pulled it off and her ticket to the start of the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race was paid for. Skipper and crew did their sponsor
proud. They sailed a terrific race and turned heads wherever they went. Arriving in Ft Lauderdale with bathing suits as the official crew uniform was a PR stunt worth gold. I was there when Maiden returned triumphantly to England at the end of the race and the traffic jams on and off the water spoke loudly of the public interest in the project. It was an emotional moment that captured the essence of what it means to have an idea, to stick with it, and to have the dream come true. Fast forward two and a half decades.
Maiden was sold, Tracy was awarded an MBE for her accomplishment and won UK Sportswoman of the Year. Since the race Tracy’s sailing career enjoyed high as well as low points (particularly an unfortunate and for her financially disastrous involve- ment with the short-lived Oryx Quest round-the-world race), but the memory of how Maiden changed so many lives was a sweet one. And, like an itch, maybe it still needed to be scratched one more time. Then out of the blue she got an email. It
seemed that Maiden was once again abandoned and in disrepair and could be
bought for cents on the dollar. Tracy set up a Crowdfunding campaign to buy and restore her old yacht. A little money had started to arrive when something remark- able happened. Remember, I said that you never can know where the money will come from? One evening she received a call from HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hus- sein, daughter of the late King Hussein. She had heard about the boat and Tracy’s efforts to restore it and she offered to help. She remembered Tracy and Maiden from when she was young and she said she would like to help in honour of her father. With the Princess’s backing they bought
Maiden, shipped it from the Seychelles where it had been rotting, and the boat is currently undergoing a complete refit in the same yard where it was prepared for the Whitbread all those years ago. Today’s plan for Maiden is to employ
her as an ambassador for women’s educa- tion. The project is called The Maiden Factor and, through a new foundation, the goal is to bring awareness to the millions of girls around the globe who are still denied any chance of an education. A certain amount of déjà vu but this time the calling is higher and the goals more lofty. To paraphrase the introduction on the
project’s website… ‘We aim to raise awareness of this still vast education gap, engaging volunteers, donors, organisations as well as girls’ schools in the developed world to help their less fortunate peers elsewhere. We believe we can contribute to educating those who can make a difference in this area on the world stage using Maiden as an iconic reminder of what girls can achieve given the opportunity.’ Yachts have a magical way of touching
and changing people’s lives. It’s probably why we are so attracted to them. A simple daysail out of Newport ended up in a chance meeting that changed the lives of many, Tracy most especially. Having Maiden back on the water with a specific and worthy mission may well change lives, hopefully this time on a larger scale and with a more global reach.
SEAHORSE 55
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