Maiden Comes to Kingston!

Hundreds of boats surrounded Maiden and cheered at her triumphant finish at the Whitbread Around the World Race in 1990.

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Maiden is the famous 58 foot sloop captained by Tracy Edwards, MBE,  which earned fame in 1990 when she competed with the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Around the World Race.  The male-dominated worlds of sailing and media all doubted the crew would survive the first leg of the 45,000 nautical mile race, but not only did the boat and crew survive, they earned 2nd place overall in their class, the best result for a British boat in 17 years and unbeaten to this day. 

Tracy Edwards’ story and Maiden’s story are amazing. You can meet Tracy and learn more about what compelled her to take on this incredible challenge, and how her experiences with Maiden and the crew have shaped her life’s work during a virtual lecture hosted by the Hudson River Maritime Museum (HRMM) on May 4, at 6 pm. 

Also, plan to view the 2019 documentary Maiden, which tells the compelling story of how the crew, led by Skipper Tracy Edwards, MBE, rebuilt their boat from the ground up and achieved great success on the race courses, overcoming tremendous challenges in the process.  The film will be shown at the Clearwater Barn on the campus of the HRMM on May 18, 2022.  Find information about the lecture and film and sign-ups here:  https://www.hrmm.org/maiden.html.

After many sailing achievements and awards,  in 2017 Tracy Edwards set up The Maiden Factor Foundation to raise funds for and support efforts towards educating girls around the world. An extensive restoration project of the boat began, in the same yard in Hamble where she was refitted 30 years previously.  The boat set sail in 2018, this time battling against the barriers that keep girls and other disenfranchised people out of education.

The poorest girls in the poorest countries get just three years of schooling. Over the past 15 years the international community has worked to get them six, then nine. But this is still not enough. The Maiden Factor Foundation is working toward universal access to 12 years of fee-free, quality primary and secondary education for girls. For more information about how you can support the foundation’s efforts, please visit www.themaidenfactor.org

Today, the famous vessel has resumed its world tour, which was interrupted in 2020 by Covid, and the boat is traveling to 40 destinations in 20 countries. Guess what? Kingston is on the list!  

The vessel will leave New York Harbor early on the morning of June 8, 2022, and she will be escorted up the Hudson River by a flotilla of boats to Kingston, where she is scheduled to arrive around 7 pm on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. On June 9 & 10, the Maiden crew will partner with the Hudson River Maritime Museum, the Sloop Clearwater, and the Sloop Apollonia to provide field trips for local schoolchildren to come to the Kingston waterfront, many for the first time, meet the crews, tour the boats, and participate in workshops in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) topics related to sailing.  These field trips will inspire and encourage children from our local community to pursue education and excel in their own learning journeys.

The wider community will also be welcomed to meet the crew and tour the vessel.  For information on how to support the Maiden’s visit to Kingston,  join the flotilla, participate in youth field trips, or visit the boat and her crew, please go to: https://www.hrmm.org/maiden.html