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Tracy Edwards and the Maiden crew changed the way people thought about women in sailing and now the same combination are trying to make a difference to millions of females worldwide.
Edwards put together the first all-women's crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989, winning two legs and finishing second overall. Now she's got her hands back on the boat, Maiden, and is using it to promote girls education on a two-year worldwide tour.
Maiden will stop in at Auckland for three weeks in March, when there might be opportunities to go sailing on the famous boat. The dates of the boat's arrival will be confirmed in the New Year.
The Maiden Factor world tour will comprise 23 stopovers in 13 countries where Maiden, the skipper and crew will dock and meet with charities supporting equal access to education; community-led educational projects; school children alongside raising awareness and funding for partner charities who find solutions for girls to access the basic human right to an education.
Maiden is presently on its way from the UK to India, the first stop on the world tour.
The boat was in a poor state of disrepair in 2014, having been abandoned in the Seychelles - “she’s a bit sad. It looks like she’s been vandalised,” Edwards said a couple of years ago - but has been restored with the help of funding from Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, daughter of King Hussein of Jordan, the original backer of Maiden.
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will host Maiden and her crew while in Auckland. For more on the Maiden Project and to follow the tour, see themaidenfactor.org/ and the Facebook page.
