Maiden swept up the Solent earlier than a Drive 5-6 gale on Tuesday morning to take provisional general honours within the 27,000 mile Ocean Globe Race.
The all-women crew crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron end line shortly earlier than noon to whoops and cheers from a big crowd gathered on the parade, then rapidly hoisted the spinnaker within the boisterous circumstances for the good thing about photographers and movie crews, experiences Barry Pickthall.
‘We’ve had an amazing welcome. We’ve achieved our purpose of displaying what girls can do,’ stated skipper Heather Thomas on arrival on the ending line.
‘This final leg was most likely our worst efficiency however all of us pulled collectively and noticed it by. There may be such a robust bond between us. I’m 27 and the youngest skipper within the race, however at present now we have proven that age will not be every little thing. I’m so happy with this crew.’
It was an emotional homecoming for these of us who witnessed Maiden’s welcome again to Southampton on the end of the 1990 Whitbread Spherical The World Race, not least for a teary eyed Tracy Edwards, the skipper then and now the marketing campaign’s patron.
Again then, she and her all-girl crew shocked everybody not only for finishing the race, however being so aggressive, successful one leg and ending 2nd in school.
Tracy Edwards, skipper of Maiden within the 1989-90 Whitbread Spherical The World Race, greets 2023-24 skipper Heather Thomas in an emotional welcome
However now there’s a good probability that Heather Thomas and her crew can go one higher by successful the Ocean Globe Race outright.
The Maiden Issue staff can now solely be crushed by the French Swan 53 Triana which should attain the Royal Yacht Squadron end line at Cowes earlier than roughly 0500 on 22 April to grab their crown.
At 0830 at present, 17 April, Triana nonetheless had 738 miles to go so it will likely be a nail biting time between now and early subsequent Monday.
Heather and her crew haven’t had it straightforward. Maiden’s engine failed quickly after the beginning of this final leg from Punta del Este, Uruguay, then their water-maker – wanted to re-hydrate all their freeze dried meals – broke down, however mercifully the climate gods got here to their help offering loads of rain showers for them to gather water in buckets.
Like the opposite finishers on Spirit of Helsinki, L’Esprit d’Equipe and Pen Duick VI, the climate was not all the time beneficial, with many excessive stress programs in the course of the race.
The Maiden crew was caught in additional than their fair proportion of windless zones, notably in the course of the early stage crusing parallel to the Brazilian coast.
The all-women crew aboard Maiden are the provisional winners of the Ocean Globe Race
However then all of it got here good from the Azores onwards. Maiden has all the time been a downwind flyer, and with a succession of south westerly gales blowing up throughout the Bay of Biscay and Western Approaches, the Bruce Farr-designed yacht surfed a lot of the best way.
Certainly, Thomas and her crew have been pushing so onerous in the course of the closing 36 hours, their ETA shrank in a single day from late tonight to a noon arrival.
This push could possibly be very important as a result of each hour now counts. Triana was averaging 5.6 knots on Tuesday afternoon.
If she will preserve slightly greater than 6 knots over the ultimate 800 miles, this French crew may nonetheless take the crown. There may be a lot to play for over the following 5 days.
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