Little did Tracy Edwards know the impact her epic journey would have when she mounted the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989 with an all-female crew. If you haven’t seen the movie “Maiden" -- which I highly recommend -- you will be suspensefully drawn into the extreme conditions these women faced. Day after day, night after night, each one drew from within herself and from her teammates the physical strength, mental determination, focus and attitude to make it 33,000 miles to the finish line. And in May of 1990, on the last day of their race, Maiden and her triumphant crew sailed into deafening applause and well deserved accolades.

 

Then Maiden was sold and the women all went their separate ways.

 

Now fast-forward to 2017, when Tracy found Maiden abandoned in the Seychelles and purchased the vessel. Then Tracy's newly formed Maiden Factor Foundation fueled the refit that put Maiden back on the starting line in 2018 for another voyage around the world -- this time to raise awareness and funds for girls’ equal access to education as well as other global issues related to gender inequality.

 

While visiting Antigua recently, I rounded the curve in Nelson’s Dockyard and was surprised to see Maiden docked there. She seemed so small (58 feet), and I imagined 12 women working in that space -- living, sailing, competing under pressure together. That in itself is such a feat. And while I was there, I was delighted to meet Liz Wardley, currently captain of the iconic Maiden, and to have some time to speak with her about her own course as well as that of Maiden.

 

Liz is from Papua New Guinea, an independent country north of Australia which shares the other half of the island with Indonesia. She grew up on fishing boats and caught the bug for racing sailboats when she was chosen, because of her small size and weight, to race on a catamaran. From there, she quit high school at 16 years old and set off to Australia to find work on yachts. Liz worked on various boats there until, at the age of 20, she landed a position with an all-female crew on her first Volvo Ocean Race (ex Whitbread Round the World Race).

 

Hired as captain in November of 2019, Liz brought Maiden from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean. Maiden typically travels with five permanent crew. For offshore legs, they add “guest crew” and “mile builders” for a total of eight or nine crew who all share in the many tasks aboard.

 

“The mile builders are girls who join the crew to be taught and mentored in their offshore sailing skills. They compete, like a scholarship, and everything is paid for them. This is not the case for a guest, who essentially pays for the experience by donating to the charity,” Liz explained.

 

The Maiden Factor Foundation has distributed all funds raised to date to five partner charities that work around the world providing solutions to gender inequality and the barriers girls face to access and stay in education. From the Orchid Project (with a goal to stop genital mutilation of girls) to Room to Read’s Book Corner project (which tackles illiteracy by providing libraries, books and other reading materials to remote areas in India, Sri Lanka and Jordan), these partners work to improve the future of girls’ lives and their communities. Due to Covid-19, Maiden’s World Tour is currently on hold, and Maiden has been shipped back to the UK for now. Once it's safe to resume, she will be sailing around the world to continue her mission.

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Liz also will be altering course. Although race activities for this year have been canceled, Liz hopes to do a couple more Volvo races as captain. She has done two Volvos with all-women crews and one with a mixed crew, which she prefers. “I feel that all-women crews can be a little too personal, whereas a 50/50 crew is a little more lighthearted. If there are personal issues among the crew, it doesn’t seem to matter as much. Not everyone needs to be friends. We just need to work together and make the boat go fast,” Liz said.

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When Liz puts her own racing team together, she'll have a mixed crew. “I’ll be the first to say, the pool of top notch, experienced women sailors is much smaller than the pool of guys. So, it’s harder to put the best competitive crew together when excluding men.” To close this skill gap, all Volvo entries must now have at least three women as part of the team. Look at that -- affirmative action in the making!

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And what is Liz’s advice for a woman who wants to pierce the gender barrier? “Don’t take no for an answer. Go back and ask again. Circumstances change. If you don’t find an opportunity, make one!”

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That sounds like Tracy Edwards 30 years ago when she broke a glass sailing ceiling. Other women have followed. Progress has been made, although some fundamental tactics are the same as many years ago. Sailing itself is indicative of what’s happening on the larger stage and is part of the larger picture that Maiden and the Maiden Factor Foundation are now developing -- where women are included and respected for their abilities as well as the balance and nurturing heart they bring to the world.

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A worthy Maiden mission: Empower a Girl; Change the World.