“Maiden” Boat Arrives On Nantucket As Part Of Worldwide Voyage

The “Maiden” is a boat that has inspired a generation of women. It was built by skipper Tracy Edwards, who led the first all-female crew to compete in the notoriously difficult Whitbread Round the World Race in the 1989-1990 race.

The Maiden arrived on Nantucket this week as part of its mission to sail around the world hoping to empower girls/women along the way through education.

The Maiden will be here until Saturday and is currently docked in the Boat Basin. By the end of its journey, it will have visited 20 countries and 40 ports including Nantucket. There was a free reception ceremony at the Nantucket Yacht Club Thursday evening featuring a talk by Edwards and a chance to meet the crew.

120 island and club children have had or will have the opportunity to visit the boat before it departs to hear about how STEAM studies (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) are important and related to sailing and the environment. Kids from the Nantucket Boys & Girl’s Club, Nantucket Community Sailing, Nantucket and Great Harbor Yacht Clubs all have or will be able to learn from Edwards and the crew during this three-day visit.

Some of those kids are the eight interns participating in Catherine Slattery’s Nantucket Captain’s Academy, who are pictured below. You can read about Slattery's academy here.

The story of the Maiden competing in the Whitbread Round the World Race was memorialized in a documentary shown earlier this week at the Dreamland.

“Despite fierce opposition and sexism, Tracy and her team won two of the toughest legs on the course and came second overall. It was a landmark moment for the sailing world and opened the door for competitive female sailing,” according to the Maiden’s story on their website. You can read more about the Maiden, its triumphs, and what it is doing today to help women across the globe by clicking here.