Round the World sailor Tracy Edwards to head the fifth Morning Cloud Sailing Talk
by Tiffany Trenner-Lyle 30 Apr 2017 01:04 NZST
2 November 2018
Tracy Edwards Maiden being unloaded in Southampton and motored round to Hamble Yacht Services on the River Hamble with other members of the original 1989 crew © Rick Tomlinson /
www.rick-tomlinson.com
Arundells is pleased to announce that the lead speaker in the fifth of its highly successful series of Morning Cloud Sailing Talks will be sailing pioneer Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
After making sailing history with ocean racing yacht Maiden 25 years earlier, Tracy was appalled to find the boat in a state of disrepair in Mahé, Seychelles in 2014. This week the boat returned to Southampton for restoration, following which it will embark on a global campaign to promote girls' education.
Tracy Edwards' talk on Thursday 2nd November follows the sell-out success of the fourth in the series of talks led by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, another Round the World legend. The event will be sponsored by Admiral Yacht Insurance.
Tracy Edwards MBE skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989/90, winning two of the legs and coming second in class overall, the best result for a British boat in 13 years.
She was the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and was awarded an MBE in 1990. In 2002, she created the first ever truly mixed gender team and broke four major world records in Maiden II.
When fully restored, Maiden will tour the UK and then the world, in partnership with UN Women and I Am Girl and the Girls Network, to draw attention to girls who have little or no access to education.
Tracy, who is an author, girls' rights campaigner and motivational speaker, said: "I am very pleased to announce that I will be speaking at Arundells in November and am excited to share the story of the Maiden's return and planned UK and world tour with other sailing enthusiasts"
Lord Hunt of Wirral, Chairman of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, said: "Ted Heath was exceptionally proud of everything he achieved as a competitive sailor – and rightly so, for he won the notoriously tough Sydney to Hobart race in 1969 and also led the British Admiral's Cup team to victory in 1971. We are therefore delighted to have established this unique series of talks by some of the greatest figures in British sailing."
Tracy Edwards will lead a line-up of three speakers and the event will be held on Thursday 2 November and tickets are £30 from or 07921 800533.
Previous sailing-themed events at the house include the unveiling of the restored bow of Morning Cloud III by Sir Ben Ainslie in May 2015 and the first four rounds of Morning Cloud talks. Previous speakers in the series have included Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Chay Blyth, Giles Chichester (son of Sir Francis Chichester), Jamie Matheson and the Commodores of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
Arundells, Sir Edward's former home in the Salisbury Cathedral Close, hosts a unique collection of sailing artefacts and memorabilia including trophies and scale models and seascapes of the five Morning Cloud yachts which Sir Edward raced. The collection also contains four model warships built by Napoleonic prisoners of war from hair and bone.