Maiden (yacht)

Maiden

Maiden in Mindelo, Cape Verde, 2022
Other names	Disque D'Or 3 Stabilo Boss Prestige
Nation	United Kingdom
Designer(s)	Bruce Farr
Launched	1979
Racing career
Skippers	Pierre Fehlmann, Bertie Reed, Tracy Edwards
Specifications
Type	Single-hull (aluminium)
Displacement	21.773 tonnes
Length	58 feet (18 m)
Beam	16 feet (4.9 m)
Draft	10 feet (3.0 m)
Mast height	75 feet (23 m)
Sail area	Bermuda rig
Crew	1 to 12

Maiden is a 58 foot (18 m) aluminium ocean racing yacht built in 1979, designed by Bruce Farr and raced by Pierre Fehlmann, Bertie Reed, Tracy Edwards and John Bankart. Edwards bought the yacht in 1987 to compete in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race with an all-female crew. The yacht achieved good results and broke records, leading to Edwards becoming the first female winner of the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy, changing the perception of women in ocean racing.

Edwards sold Maiden after the race; the yacht subsequently had several different owners. The last of these abandoned her in the Seychelles. She was brought back to England by Edwards in 2017 after a fundraising drive. After a major refit, the boat set off on a global voyage in 2018 to raise funds and awareness for girls' education under the foundation "The Maiden Factor". A second world tour began in 2021.

In 2018, a documentary titled Maiden was made about Edwards and the crew competing in the race; its first showing was at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.^[1]

Finishing in April 2024, Maiden won the 2023 Ocean Globe Race, winning the circumnavigation race with an all-female crew.