Queen Camilla will host an all-female sports team at Clarence House to celebrate their groundbreaking win.
The Queen will host the ‘Maiden’ yachting crew at Clarence House to congratulate them on their unprecedented win of the Ocean Globe Race, becoming the first-ever all-female crew to win an around-the-world yacht race.
The 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) took inspiration from the 1973 Whitbread Round the World Race, marking the 50th anniversary of the original event.
Racing without computers, GPS, and high-tech materials, they navigate with sextants and paper charts.
Queen Camilla will welcome an iconic sports team to Clarence House
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The 2023-24 OGR saw 14 boats set sail from Cowes for 27,000 nautical miles, starting and ending in the UK with stops in South Africa, New Zealand, and Uruguay.
Three decades ago, skipper Tracy Edwards MBE and her all-female crew finished second, winning two of the six legs in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race aboard the 58ft Maiden yacht.
The crew were the first all-female team to take part in an around-the-world yacht race.
In 2018, the yacht was repurposed for a world tour to raise awareness and funds for girls’ education.
Maiden with skipper Tracy Edwards (third from left, front) after completing the round-the-world race in 1990
PA
Ahead of its departure, King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the refurbished boat.
In September 2023, initiated by Tracy Edwards, Maiden embarked on the Ocean Globe Race with the most diverse professional sailing crew ever to sail the world.
The crew includes the first black female crew and the first Middle Eastern female crew to race around the world.
This month, following over 153 days at sea, Maiden made history again becoming the first all-female team to win an around-the-world yacht race.
Tracy Edwards MBE and crew reunited with Maiden 27 years after the Whitbread Round The World Race in 1989/90
PA
Maiden approaches the finishing line in 1990
PA
Before the team set sail in September 2023, the Queen, 76, sent a message of encouragement and good luck to the crew.
She said: “You are all much in my thoughts today, as you cross the start line of the Ocean Globe Race for Maiden’s final race.
“I do hope that each one of you is proud to be part of such a special crew, bringing messages of hope to girls across the world.
“I wish you fair winds and following seas! – Camilla R.”
