Tracy Edwards\u2019 book \u2018Maiden\u2019, written with Tim Madge, tells a tale that has quite properly passed into legendFoaming seas but, for once, some fair weather in the 1989\/90 Whitbread Tracy raises the funds, finds the boat of the same name and skippers the first all-female crew around the globe in the world\u2019s greatest fully-crewed yacht race. The years 1989\/90 were iconic for the Whitbread, with the likes of Peter Blake driving Steinlager II, Lawrie Smith with his redoubtable crew jockeying Rothmans, and Fisher & Paykel with Grant Dalton at the helm.
\nThe stress on Tracy throughout this book is almost unbelievable, but it is in the Southern Ocean, hammering down to Fremantle in Australia, that she really shows her mettle. The text comes in the form of her daily diary and it lays her soul frighteningly bare.
\nIn the extract below, she has just been relaying messages and standing by for Creighton\u2019s Naturally, a maxi which had just lost a crewman. She has turned in exhausted, while inaccurate steering compasses have forced Maiden further north than she\u2019d intended. Read on. I couldn\u2019t put it down.
\nFrom Maiden
\nNovember 14th 49\u00b024\u2019N, 19\u00b005\u2019E
\nI spent the whole day in a dreadful mood because we had gone too far north. When I finally thought I had sorted it all out, the satnavs packed up. I started praying my calculations had been right, but I have no way of checking them.
\nDawn, Jeni and I racked our brains trying to work it all out. Why did this have to happen when we were first? Well, we won\u2019t be for much longer. Rucanor will have creamed past us last night.
\nI stood by for Creighton\u2019s all day. Bart is getting better all the time. I had a message for them from British Defender.
\nEdwards at the Maiden nav and comms station. Unreliable instruments piled on the pressure
\nAt the chat show, sure enough Rucanor were only 39 miles behind with lots of wind. I had to fight my temper \u2013 difficult. I still couldn\u2019t get weather maps because of being on standby. It was too cloudy to take a sight (using a sextant).
\nI am beginning to feel, too, that if we can\u2019t sort out these compasses in Freo then the girls can get themselves another navigator, I\u2019ve had enough. I expect Rucanor can\u2019t believe their luck.
\nNovember 15th 49\u00b040\u2019S, 25\u00b017\u2019E \u2013 3,960 miles to go
\nI kept getting up in the night to check on the sat nav. Nothing, bloody nothing. We had pancakes for breakfast but Jo was in a foul mood. I missed Creighton\u2019s calling as I was trying to deal with a couple of our own problems.
\nArticle continues below\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tMaiden refit: How Tracy Edwards\u2019 sailing legend was brought back to life<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFew yachts, and fewer skippers, become truly famous \u2013 famous in the sense that the everyman on the street would\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tSteinlager 2: On board Sir Peter Blake\u2019s refitted Whitbread champion<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn 22 May 1990, Steinlager 2 \u2013 skippered by Peter Blake and crewed by 14 fellow New Zealanders \u2013 crossed\u2026<\/p>\n
If anyone who didn\u2019t sail had been on the boat today it would have put them off sailing for life. It very nearly did it to me. What a nightmare. The wind, too, was up and down. No weather charts again \u2013 very bad reception.
\nIt was very cold and damp and miserable \u2013 now there is something wrong with the breakers (for electric power). I wonder if they are leaking into the hull and creating the compass problem? At one point everything went. I screamed for Jeni and we sat down and went round and round in circles trying to figure it all out.
\nWe checked everything: the compasses again, the cables to the satnav, the computer. Tempers were again a little short today. Then, at the chat show, things were not too bad. Rucanor and the others are still in the high as well as us. We\u2019ll try to head south again as they all are. Rucanor is still 40 miles behind (are they sailing backwards?). I really thought they would have overtaken us last night. L\u2019Esprit is 100 miles behind, Schlussel 173. Good.
\nDramatic view of Maiden in the 1989\/90 Whitbread Round the World Race
\nEveryone else is very fed up but trying to make the best of it. Good on \u2019em. I stayed up all day but did manage to grab two hours this afternoon. Finally, the satnav took a fix in the early evening; then immediately stopped again.
\nDawn had worked out the fuel. Because of Creighton\u2019s (not that I mind), we will probably run out during the last week. Thank the Lord for the emergency batteries. I have worked out that in five days we can finally head north. Jeni will be pleased \u2013 she has been suffering badly from her frozen feet.
\nWe went today onto the chart which has Australia away in the corner. Rucanor are not on it yet. That makes things seem a lot better. But while we were gybing, Sally managed to slam the hatch shut on my hand. When Jo brought some water to soothe it she stumbled and spilled it all over the chart. If I hadn\u2019t been crying, I\u2019d have laughed.
\nTesting times for the Maiden crew in the Southern Ocean
\nI heard via Portishead today that we now have huge money problems. Oh dear God I have had enough. I want to be at home curled up in front of the fire watching \u2018Coronation Street\u2019, and stroking the dog. I have never been as highly strung on a boat as I am now.
\nI feel like punching walls (except my hand hurts too much). I have to make such an effort at the moment to stay calm; worrying about the money is not helping. I suppose I will find out in Freo soon enough. Finally, tonight we were doing 9 knots in the right direction and we had taken another 14 miles from Rucanor.
\nNovember 18th 51\u00b030\u2019S, 42\u00b053\u2019E \u2013 3,286 miles to go
\nThings are looking up. The sat navs are now working and the compasses seem OK. We spent a couple of hours with no wind; it was cold and raining. Then both the compasses and the satnavs packed up.
\nI can\u2019t begin to write how angry and frustrated I am. Everyone is down in the dumps \u2013 and it is raining again. Rucanor is now only 23 miles behind; everyone has caught up. I still don\u2019t know where exactly we are.
\nI got my sleeping bag and snoozed off and on in the nav station, waiting for a fix. I got one at midnight and then worked out how much the compasses were out. I gave the watch a course. Jo is now getting up to do breakfast. I have been up for 19 hours.
\nNovember 20th 51\u00b005\u2019S, 57\u00b022\u2019E \u2013 2,746 miles to go
\nIt is getting warmer; lots of birds now follow us. Meanwhile the pressure is building on me to do the right thing. The compasses seem OK; satnav still on the blink from time to time. We spotted another iceberg, a large one. The wind is yuk, so is the sea. I got some weather charts and as a result I am heading north slowly. Rucanor have given up to go above Kerguelen.
\nI can\u2019t make up my mind, it is one of the most difficult decisions to make. I think Equity & Law are going north too. There is a high pressure system over us and it is taking its toll. We have heard that Fortuna has two men injured and that Schlussel have broken a pole.
\nStress and strain all round. The position reports have become the most important part of the day. We are all getting physically, emotionally and mentally knackered.
\n\u2018Maiden\u2019 by Tracy Edwards and Tim Madge, available on Kindle from Amazon, \u00a38.19. Proceeds go to The Maiden Foundation
\nNovember 21st 50\u00b049\u2019S, 60\u00b038\u2019E
\nI live, eat, breathe, sleep course, course, course. Which way to go??? I can\u2019t believe how pressured I feel. Exploding point is not far away. Even if Rucanor overtake us it will be a release \u00ad\u2013 something to let the steam off. My stomach is playing up and my neck is stiff \u2013 all the classic symptoms. I just wish this leg was over. I feel that if we lose we will have let so many people down.
\nToday started off badly with the wind directly behind us. We gybed and still had a bad course. The wind kept going back and forth. L\u2019Esprit is still going our way \u2013 south of Kerguelen. What a stupid place to put an island!
\nThere was blue sky today and some sun, fluffy white clouds and a lovely rolling sea. We had a good wind speed \u2013 just the wrong direction. The spinnaker tripped itself twice today \u2013 bloody dangerous \u2013 but the girls have got it down to a fine art in getting it back.
\nWe got some brilliant speeds today but at the chat show I found out that both Rucanor and L\u2019Esprit had taken miles from us. I heard Fremantle Sailing Club talking to Steinlager. Yippee, there\u2019s life out there! During the chat show the reacher went up and we went over very badly. Horror show.
\nNovember 23 50\u201a21\u2019S, 69\u00b045\u2019E \u2013 2,302 miles to go
\n38 miles south of Kerguelen. Wiped out totally at 03.30 doing 15 knots. Right over on our side, water pouring into the boat. We had a new record recorded speed (by Jeni) of 17.11 knots. The peak wind was 42 knots.
\nNovember 24th 47\u00b056\u2019S, 82\u00b053\u2019E \u2013 1,739 miles to go
\nI have been like a cat on hot bricks going around Kerguelen, knowing that at any time we could lose the lead. The whole boat was like a time bomb. In the end it was me and Michele. She told me this was not a race around the buoys. Well, after the last-second Whitbread leg I did with Atlantic Privateer, when we finished seven minutes in front of NZI Enterprise I had to disagree.
\nSo we had a screaming match. Everyone agrees I get Bitch of the Leg award. But when we got round Kerguelen there we were still in front \u2013 now with a massive advantage. I got worse as I began to realise we really could win this leg.
\nFor three nights now I have not slept. I just toss and turn, wondering if we are doing the course, what the wind is up to \u2013 even (still) am I doing the right thing? I am confident but my nerves are raw. The Maiden bravado is cracking up right now. It got a bit better when we found we had taken more miles out of the others, the weather was better and we did some great surfing with a poled-out reacher.
\nThen the wind dropped again tonight, so I am gritting my teeth waiting for the chat show. L\u2019Esprit is beginning to overtake Rucanor; in general I can feel them both willing us to make a mistake.
\nNovember 28th 43\u00ba24\u2019S, 97\u00ba40\u2019E \u2013 1,061 miles to go
\nWe had 56 knots of wind today. We left the spinnaker up as long as we dared. We were hurtling down the waves at breakneck speeds, our hearts in our mouths. When we did take the flanker down, it was gusting as high as 65 knots. We broached twice while trying to trip the spinnaker.
\nThe mast went completely in the water; the keel was out of the water on the other side. It was terrifying. Water went everywhere, all over the place, all over us. We were gasping and choking in it. Finally, the spinnaker tripped, but by the time we got it down it was in shreds.
\nIt is almost impossible to describe how angry the sea was, how violent the wind. When it had calmed down a little we poled out the blast reacher. By then everyone was soaked through and freezing cold. The compasses are out again.
\nNovember 29th 41\u00b021\u2019S, 101\u00b048\u2019E \u2013 856 miles to go
\nWe are now absolutely exhausted. My emotions are up and down. One minute I am as high as a kite, the next suicidal. The girls are so tired they have to concentrate on not falling asleep the whole time on deck. We eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work. As I write this there are 700 miles left. I don\u2019t think we could hold on for much longer. Everyone has pushed themselves to their limit; there is still not a whimper of complaint.
\nRelief and vindication for Tracy Edwards at the leg finish in Fremantle
\nThese are 11 very special women. We all feel about 20 years older \u2013 and look it. The trust we now share is immeasurable. You might know someone all your life and not trust them as much as we do each other. I have seen the most extraordinary acts of selfless caring, heroism, courage, will-power, kindness \u2013 and achievement.
\nL\u2019Esprit has not let up for one minute; they wait for us to break the boat or just to break. I have been terrified, ecstatic, depressed, confident, unsure, brave and cowardly. I am ashamed I ever doubted we could do this, proud of myself for the first time in my life, not tearing myself apart for once, or looking for faults. I have finally found all the good bits I knew were there somewhere in me. I think the girls would say the same about themselves. And, of them, I am so proud I could burst.
\nJust over three days later Maiden crossed the line off the North Mole in Fremantle, first in her division. The next yacht, Rucanor came in 30 hours later. Maiden had not just won this most difficult of legs: she had achieved the best result by a British yacht in the Whitbread for 12 years; and she had nailed her last critics to her mast, with nothing left to say.
\nTracy never gives up. To learn about The Maiden Factor Foundation visit: themaidenfactor.org
\nFirst published in the August 2020 issue of Yachting World.
\nThe post Inside a legendary Whitbread: Extract from Maiden by Tracy Edwards and Tim Madge appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tracy Edwards\u2019 book \u2018Maiden\u2019, written with Tim Madge, tells a tale that has quite properly passed into legendFoaming seas but, for once, some fair weather in the 1989\/90 Whitbread Tracy raises the funds, finds the boat of the same name … <\/p>\n