Legendary sailor Tracy Edwards and her historic yacht Maiden have arrived in Brooklyn

Celebrated sailor Tracy Edwards and her racing yacht Maiden arrived in Brooklyn on Wednesday, greeted by an armada that included a FDNY fireboat pumping celebratory jets of water into the air as she passed the Statue of Liberty.

Edwards led the first all-female sailing team to compete in the grueling, 33,000-mile Whitbread Round the World Race (now known as The Ocean Race) in 1989/1990. Braving treacherous seas and overcoming rampant sexism, Tracy and her teammates came in second, smashing the gender barrier for competitive sailing along the way.

“We defied the skeptics and not only ‘survived’ but won two legs and came in second overall,” Edwards told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle