Historic yacht Maiden ready to sail around the world once more

"Maiden", the yacht that under the leadership of Tracey Edwards, came second in theWhitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989/90, will compete in the Ocean Globe Race with a new all-female crew, using traditional, celestial navigation. Picture by Daniel Leal, AFP

Taking place ahead of the 50th anniversary of the first Whitbread Round the World yacht race, the charities benefiting are Gosport-based Ocean Youth Trust (South), the Blue Marine Foundation and The Maiden Factor Foundation.

Some of the highest bid items were a flight over Hampshire in a light aircraft (£700), dinner for two at the Gaff Rigger restaurant with an overnight stay at the Southampton Harbour Hotel (£750), and a Thames champagne lunch cruise (£800).

But it was two lots in particular that captured the audience’s imagination and garnered the highest bids.

The first was a day sail in the Solent onboard the Ocean Youth Trust (South)’s sail training vessel, Prolific.

The second was a name placed on the hull of the historic Maiden yacht as part of The Maiden Factor Foundation’s ‘Names Project’.

The winning bid for both of those lots was £3,000.

“What a fabulous evening, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the 50th anniversaries of MDL Marinas and the Whitbread Round the World Race,” said Tim Mayer, Sales and Marketing Director at MDL Marinas.

It’s an eight-month adventure around the world for ordinary sailors on normal yachts. Racing ocean-going GRP production yachts designed before 1988, there will be no computers, no satellites, no GPS, and no high-tech materials.

During the evening, the audience heard from The Maiden Foundation’s founder, Tracy Edwards.

Onboard Maiden in the 1989/1990 Whitbread, Tracy sailed the first ever all-female Whitbread crew home to Ocean Village Marina in Southampton.

As the after-dinner speaker, she talked about her adventures and highlighted the valuable work of her charity towards empowerment of girls through education.

The Ocean Globe Race fleet, including Maiden, departs Southampton this coming Sunday (9.30am).

The 14 yachts, each with an international crew, will head to the start line in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron on the Isle of Wight where veteran sailor Sir Chay Blyth will officially start the race at 1pm.

Ahead of the crews lie an eight-month adventure around the world. They will be racing ocean-going GRP production yachts designed before 1988, meaning no computers, no satellites, no GPS, and no high-tech materials.

Northney Marina, Hayling Island, is among the portfolio of MDL Marinas.