Tracy Edwards MBE – International Yachtswoman and Leadership Speaker
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.
Tracy retired from round-the-world sailing two years later when pregnant and decided turned 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.
Tracy dedicates a large amount of her time to charity and is also a patron of The Ahoy Centre which teaches disadvantaged youngsters to sail.
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.
Tracy now works full time for the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.