Maiden is a aluminium ocean racing yacht built in 1979, designed by Bruce Farr and raced by Pierre Fehlmann, Bertie Reed and Tracy Edwards. Edwards bought the yacht in 1987 to compete in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew. The yacht achieved good results, broke records, led to Edwards becoming the first female winner of the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy, and changed the perception of women in ocean racing. Maiden was sold after the race, and had several subsequent owners. The last of these abandoned her in the Seychelles and she was brought back to England by Edwards in 2017 after a fundraising drive. After a major refit, the boat set off on a global voyage in 2018 to raise funds and awareness for girls' education under the foundation "The Maiden Factor". In 2018, a documentary on Maiden was made by New Black Films; its premiere showing was at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.
Racing career
1979–1987
The aluminium-hulled racing yacht was commissioned by the Swiss Ocean Racing Club. Designed by Bruce Farr and named Disque D'Or 3 in 1979, she came fourth in the 1981–82 Whitbread Round the World Race, skippered by Swiss sailor Pierre Fehlmann. She was renamed Stabilo Boss'' for the 1986-87 BOC single-handed challenge, and came seventh, skippered by South African Bertie Reed.
Whitbread 1989–90
The boat, then named Prestige, was bought by Tracy Edwards in 1987 with the intention of entering the first all-female crew in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race; in the previous race, only five women had been among the 200 sailors. Edwards remortgaged her house to buy the boat, and was supported by King Hussein of Jordan. Edwards recruited a 12-woman crew; the boat nearly sank in the River Hamble on the way to the boatyard, but they rebuilt the boat from scratch in 1988. She was christened Maiden by Sarah, Duchess of York. The 1989 Fastnet race was intended to be a warm-up, but was abandoned after the start owing to injury. In the Whitbread race, Maiden finished second in her class, winning two out of six individual legs of the race, the best finish by a British boat for 17 years. Edwards was awarded the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy, the first woman to receive it, and made a MBE. The crew were Tracy Edwards, Mandi Swan, Mikaela Von Koskull, Claire Warren, Michele Paret, Tanja Visser, Sally Creaser, Dawn Riley, Nancy Hill, Jeni Mundy, Jo Gooding, Sarah Davies, Kristin Harris and Angela Farrell.
After Whitbread
Having taken out loans to buy the boat, Edwards sold her after the race. In 1990 Edwards published an account in Maiden, co-authored with Tim Madge. There were several subsequent owners. The last of these abandoned the yacht in a marina in the Seychelles. The marina seized the boat and offered it to Edwards, who was reunited with the boat after a break of 27 years and was shocked at her condition. Nevertheless, the intention, after fundraising and some restoration work inCape Town, was to sail her back to England with original crew members and use her for fundraising to promote girls' education under the banner "Maiden Rescue". In the event, the yacht, considered unfit to be sailed, left Cape Town on 26 March 2017 by cargo ship. The shipping was arranged by Peters and May, who had worked with the Maiden team in the Whitbread race.
Return to England
Maiden arrived in Southampton in April 2017 and the original crew reunited. The yacht was refitted by Hamble Yacht Services in Hamble, near Southampton, in the same shed where she had been refitted in 1988. She was re-rigged by Ocean Yacht Systems, the same firm that had rigged her in the 1980s.
Global voyage 2018
Maiden was re-launched in the summer of 2018 and in September 2018 departed from Southampton Boat Show with a new crew of women, to prepare for a three-year world tour on behalf of the charity "The Maiden Factor Foundation", which was set up by Edwards with the support of the late King Hussein of Jordan's daughter, Princess Haya. A principal project of the charity is to use Maiden to raise funds and awareness for girls' education globally. The yacht left Hamble in November, and called into Plymouth for repairs. Their first scheduled stop would be Kerala, India. They were headed for the Strait of Gibraltar on 26 November. On the voyage, crews and skippers will be rotated; among the guest skippers will be Dee Caffari, Sharon Ferris and Wendy Tuck; the first is Nikki Henderson. The yacht arrived in Malta on 13 December 2018, and was passing through the Suez Canal in February 2019. Skippered by Wendy Tuck, Maiden reached Auckland, New Zealand, on 1 May 2019. In November 2019, having crossed the Pacific Ocean to the USA, the yacht left San Diego en route for the Panama Canal, skippered by Liz Wardley.
