Portsmouth instructor hopes new film will inspire more girls to go to sea

Karen Rawson, principal and chief instructor with Sunsail Sailing School in Portsmouth, hopes the story of Tracy Edwards in a film being shown at No6 Cinema on Thursday will inspire the next generation of female sailors.

Karen said: ‘The story of Tracy and her all female Round the World crew has been such a genuine inspiration to myself and no doubt many other female sailors around the world.

‘More women are taking up sailing but not as many as there should be.’

The film, Maiden, tells the story of how Tracy skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989, becoming the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year Trophy and also received an MBE.

Karen added: ‘The benefits of sailing are different for everyone. You learn new skills, work as a team and of course it can be lots of fun.’

The film will be shown at 6.15pm and after Tracy will take part in a Q&A session broadcast by satellite.

To get tickets visit no6cinema.co.uk/???????????????????????????????????