Tracy Edwards: What Can A Sailboat Teach You That A Classroom Can't?

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode School of Life

When Tracy Edwards was expelled from school, she wound up working on boats. That led her to form a record-breaking all-female sailing crew, which circumnavigated the world in 1989.

About Tracy Edwards

Tracy Edwards is a sailor, social activist and the founder of The Maiden Factor Foundation, a funding project that empowers girls through education.

Edwards gained recognition as the skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the world. Her team raced in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Race, and won two legs and came second overall in her class. She was awarded an MBE, an award for an outstanding achievement or service to the British Empire, and became the first woman awarded the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy. In 2002, Edwards created the first ever truly mixed gender team, and broke four major world records on her yacht Maiden II. [Copyright 2020 NPR]