{{Short description|British sailor (born 1962)}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Infobox person | name = Tracy Edwards | honorific_suffix = MBE | image = HRH Princess Haya of Jordan meets with Tracy Edwards MBE (cropped 2).jpg | alt = A smiling woman with short grey hair sitting on a beige couch. | caption = Edwards in 2017 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|5 September 1962}} | birth_place = Pangbourne, England | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | alma_mater = University of Roehampton | children = 1 }} '''Tracy Edwards''', MBE (born 5 September 1962) is a British sailor. In 1989 she skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in ''Maiden'', becoming the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and was appointed MBE.<ref name=Guard061001>{{cite news |last=Price |first=Oliver |title=Triumph and despair: Tracy Edwards |work=Observer Sport Monthly |date=1 October 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/oct/01/sailing.features }}</ref><ref name=AutoBiog>{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Tracy |title=Living Every Second |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |date=4 October 2001 |isbn=978-0340770436 }}</ref> She has written two books about her experiences.
==Early life== Edwards spent her early years in Pangbourne, England, with dreams of becoming a ballet dancer like her mother, but began to get into trouble after the death of her father when she was 10 and her subsequent relocation with her mother and stepfather to Wales.<ref name=Guard061001/> She was educated at The Highlands School, Reading and Gowerton Comprehensive School.<ref>{{cite news |title=Top yachtswoman makes a wave with pupils |url=https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/top-yachtswoman-makes-wave-pupils-4273337 |accessdate=20 October 2020 |work=Berkshire Live |date=8 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Robin |title=Edwards' stormy waters |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/edwards-stormy-waters-2376156 |accessdate=20 October 2020 |work=Wales Online |date=31 March 2013}}</ref> She left home and backpacked across Europe at the age of 16 after her expulsion from school, then signed on as a stewardess of a yacht in Piraeus,<ref name=Guard061001/><ref name=mirror>{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tricia |title=Wave of success: Round-the-world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards on bouncing back from redundancy |work=Mirror |date=27 September 2012 |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/personal-finance/tracy-edwards-mbe-on-bouncing-back-1345293 |accessdate=17 October 2019 }}</ref> which was her introduction to sailing.
==Sailing== During a stopover in the United States she met King Hussein I of Jordan,<ref name="hussein">{{cite web|url=https://www.themaidenfactor.org/how-it-all-began|title=How it all began|first=Tracy|last=Edwards|accessdate=15 June 2018}}</ref> who encouraged her to pursue her idea of entering the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race with an all-female crew, and who would later arrange a sponsorship from Royal Jordanian Airlines, funding that allowed her yacht ''Maiden'' to compete in the race. Prior to this, Edwards served in several positions on other yachts, including deckhand and first mate, before entering her first Whitbread in the 1985–1986 competition.<ref name=Guard061001/> She began as the cook aboard the ''Norsk Data GB'' and in the second leg transferred to the ''Atlantic Privateer,'' also as cook.<ref name=Guard061001/><ref name=Volvo>{{cite web |title=Chapter 16 – Maiden voyage |work=Roaring Forties |publisher=Volvo Ocean Race, S.L.U. |date=12 June 2014 |url=http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/news/7218_Roaring-Forties-chapter-16-Maiden-voyage.html }}</ref>
Based on the small ratio of women in the race – five out of 200 – she determined to enter in 1989 with an entirely female crew.<ref name=Guard061001/> She recruited a 12-woman crew and mortgaged her home to buy a second-hand, 10-year-old, 58-foot yacht and refurbish it, renaming it ''Maiden''. It finished second in its class, winning two out of six individual legs of the race.<ref name=Guard061001/><ref name=Telegraph14>{{cite news |last=Edgar |first=James |title=Yachtswoman Tracy Edwards launches bid to save decaying boat – 25 years on |work=The Telegraph |date=12 June 2014 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/sailing/10894709/Yachtswoman-Tracy-Edwards-launches-bid-to-save-decaying-boat-25-years-on.html }}</ref> As a result, she garnered worldwide attention and praise and was awarded the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and an MBE honour. In 1990, Edwards detailed her story in the book, ''Maiden'', co-authored with Tim Madge.<ref name="EdwardsMadge1990">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Tracy|last2=Madge|first2=Tim|title=Maiden|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZYVNQAACAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-71027-9}}</ref>
Thereafter, Edwards started a family and began managing sailing programmes. In 2000 she undertook a new round-the-world sailing venture, ''Maiden 2'', an attempt to claim the Jules Verne Trophy with a 110-foot maxi catamaran. This attempt ended with the boat being dismasted off of the coast of Chile.<ref name=Guard061001/> Edwards was then involved in the organisation of a new round-the world race, Oryx Quest, in 2005 in Qatar. This was the first time a round-the-world race had started and finished in the Middle East, based in Doha. After the successful event, which saw four of the fastest multihulls compete, Edwards was forced into bankruptcy when the Qatari sponsor dissolved their company and refused payment. She had personally borrowed £8m from the bank to help fund the event.<ref name=mirror/>
===Recovery and restoration of ''Maiden''=== ''{{main|Maiden (yacht)}}''
In 2014, Edwards discovered that ''Maiden'' was abandoned in poor condition in a marina in the Indian Ocean.<ref name="Express2014"/> She launched a successful public bid for funding to save the boat, with the intent to re-enact its Whitbread run before putting it in charitable use and displaying it in British maritime museums.<ref name=PBO2014>{{cite news |last=Hodgetts |first=Laura |title='Maiden is coming home' thanks to £44,215 crowd funding |work=Practical Boat Owner |date=3 July 2014 |url=http://www.pbo.co.uk/news/maiden-is-coming-home-thanks-to-44215-crowd-funding-728 }}</ref> ''Maiden'' returned to Southampton aboard a cargo ship in April 2017. Edwards and four of her Whitbread campaign crewmates were present to be reunited with their old boat.<ref name=TMF20170424>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Tracy |title=Maiden is home – at last... |date=24 April 2017 |url=http://www.themaidenfactor.org/blog/2017/04/24/maiden-is-home-at-last/}}</ref> With external funding the boat was restored in Hamble, Southampton. With inspiration from King Hussein (and subsequently supported by his daughter, Princess Haya), Edwards founded "The Maiden Factor" which utilised ''Maiden'' to raise funds and awareness for girls' education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themaidenfactor.org/Educate|title=Educate a Girl - Change the World|first=Tracy|last=Edwards|accessdate=15 June 2018}}</ref> It was planned to re-launch ''Maiden'' in the summer of 2018 and in September 2018 depart from Southampton Boat Show with a new crew of women, on a three-year world tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themaidenfactor.org/Maiden/Timeline|title=Current Timeline|first=Tracy|last=Edwards|accessdate=15 June 2018}}</ref>
Edwards and the crew of ''Maiden'' are the subject of the 2018 documentary film ''Maiden''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Dennis |date=2018-09-21 |title=Film Review: ‘Maiden’ |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/maiden-review-1202946445/ |access-date=2025-07-11 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personal life== Edwards is single and has a daughter.<ref name="Express2014">{{cite news|url=http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/adam-helliker/482539/Adam-Helliker-on-Tracy-Edwards-and-Carey-Mulligan|title=Tracy Edwards' mission to save a fair Maiden|last=Helliker|first=Adam|date=15 June 2014|work=Express}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * ''Maiden'', with Tim Madge, Simon & Schuster, 1990 {{ISBN|978-0671710279}} * ''Living Every Second'' Hodder & Stoughton, 2001 {{ISBN|978-0340770436}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.themaidenfactor.org/ The Maiden Factor]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Tracy}} Category:Living people Category:English female sailors (sport) Category:1962 births Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Gowerton Comprehensive School Category:People educated at The Highlands School, Reading Category:Volvo Ocean Race sailors Category:Women motivational speakers Category:British motivational speakers Category:20th-century English sportswomen Category:21st-century English sportswomen Category:Alumni of the University of Roehampton