"I believe that key lessons learnt from the world of sport and adventure can be transferred to the business place.
Issues about leading teams to maximise their full potential come across powerfully from world beaters who have achieved the absolute pinnacle of their chosen careers."
Tracy Edwards MBE
Tracy Edwards, the first woman to lead an all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race 1989-90, has been named an Ambassador for the first Volvo Ocean Race Legends Regatta and Reunion.
“This is such an exceptional event and it’s an honor to be involved," Edwards said. “It’s a very special race to me. I did it twice: on Atlantic Privateer in 85-86 and Maiden in 89-90. It went through changes but all for the good I believe.
"I am so pleased that this is finally done. It’s a recognition of what the Whitbread meant to so many people. I will obviously be there all week and most of the girls from Maiden will be there too. We've stayed in touch by phone or mail but it will be the first time we will all be back together at the same time in 20 years."
Edwards will be joining other Legend Ambassadors: Lady Pippa Blake, Magnus Olsson, Sir Chay Blyth CBE, BEM, and Skip Novak.
The Legends regatta is the first ever official reunion of all who have sailed in the world’s premier ocean race since the inaugural race in 1973-74.
It is being held in Alicante, Spain from 1-5 November 2011, the week between the Alicante In-Port race and the start of leg one.
Tracy Edwards won international fame in 1989 as the skipper of the first all female crew to sail around the world in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. The boat won two legs and came second overall in her class. The best result for a British boat since 1977.
In 1990 Tracy was awarded Sportswoman of the Year and an MBE. She was the first woman to achieve acceptance by the British yachting community and paved the way for other women, notably Dawn Riley and Ellen MacArthur to follow.
Following her groundbreaking success with Maiden, Tracy set to consolidate her position as one of the world’s top sailors by entering Trophy Jules Verne in 1998 with the Royal SunAlliance boat, again with an all-female crew. This yachting trophy is for the fastest circumnavigation around the world with no stopping and no outside assistance. Tracy and her crew broke seven world records during their two-year programme. One of these, the Channel Record was the fastest ocean record in the world for three years. She was well on course for the record for more than half of their route, but was thwarted by treacherous seas off the coast of Chile and her mast snapped in two. Tracy and her crew managed to sail the stricken yacht to Chile. It took 16 days to cover some 2000 miles to shore, with no outside assistance.
Tracy retired from round-the-world sailing two years later when pregnant with her daughter Mackenna, and decided to turn her attention to managing sailing projects for her team. In 2001 she acquired Maiden II, the fastest catamaran in the world and she and her team set about breaking records, including the Everest of sailing records, the 24-hour record, and their own Channel record.
In 2005 Tracy staged the first ever round the work sailing event to start and finish in the Middle East by putting on The Oryx Quest 05 in Qatar. Four of the fastest multihulls in the world too part and in another first were each paid $1million to take part in the event. Even though the Oryx Quest ended badly for Tracy and her team when they were not paid for the event, and the winners were not paid the prize money owed; the ground breaking project has opened up the Middle East to first time sailing events in Oman, Abu Dhabi and Dubai and has paved the way for sponsorship in those countries.
Tracy dedicates a large amount of her time to charity. Her three main charity commitments are as Patron of Regenerate UK, a small but highly effective charity working in Roehampton with disadvantaged young people, to the NSPCC as an Ambassador and as an Ambassador to Gingerbread which gives free advice and help to single parents. She is also involved with The Lady Taverners, The Prince's Trust, The Ahoy Centre, Emmaus, Action for Children and The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme. Tracy's tumultuous childhood has given her a unique way to contribute to the organisations she helps and she is passionately committed to giving youngsters a second chance. Sailing gave Tracy a future at a time in her life when things could have gone badly wrong and now she uses that experience to help others.