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The Maiden Factor sets sail on worldwide voyage to promote female learning

The Maiden Factor yacht

Inmarsat is providing all the connectivity required for the epic three-year Maiden Factor voyage around the world, which set sail from Southampton, UK today with its all-female crew.

The Maiden Factor is the vision of UK sailing legend Tracy Edwards to promote access to education for girls from all backgrounds and countries, and to raise funds to help young women realise their full potential.

The project will see her iconic yacht Maiden circumnavigate the globe for the first time since Tracy and her crew become the original all-female team to compete in the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race), coming in coveted second place to set a new world record for women’s sailing.

Record-breaking achievement

Tracy’s record-breaking achievement 38 years ago remains unbroken by any UK male or female team to this day and was made possible by the support of the late HM King Hussein I of Jordan.

Today it is his daughter HRH Princess Haya of Jordan who has stepped in to help Tracy restore the Maiden, found rotting away in the Seychelles in 1987, and to support the ambitious Maiden Factor tour through her father’s ‘anything is possible’ legacy.

As Connectivity Partner to the Maiden Factor, the DISQUE D’OR 3 yacht has been equipped with a FleetBroadband 250 antenna for seamless voice and broadband data communications to enable the crew to blog and update social media throughout the journey, as well as receive the latest weather updates and navigation charts. Accessed via our award-winning L-band network, FeetBroadband provides 99.9% global, reliable connectivity in all weather across the world’s oceans.

FleetBroadband terminal installed on the Maiden Factor

Safety services

In addition, the yacht will also carry our Global Maritime Distress and Safety System-approved Inmarsat C service to provide all-important safety services, along with two IsatPhone 2 satellite phones stowed in the lifeboat’s grab bag in case of an emergency.

Alison Horrocks, Inmarsat Chief Corporate Affairs Officer said: “We are delighted to be providing all the airtime and connectivity for the Maiden Voyage to help promote female education and empowerment around the world.

“As a company, we are proud of our legacy of STEM outreach within schools and universities, and through our internship and graduate programmes. We look forward to watching the progress of the Maiden Factor over the next three years and to supporting the important message it will be bringing to all corners of the world during its various stopovers.”

Inspiring adventure

The Maiden Factor is scheduled to stop off at 25 ports during its voyage. At each leg a Message of Hope sent by girls in the UK will be presented in a ceremony on the docks upon arrival at the stopovers, where chosen girls from each country will add to it their own messages of hope and solidarity.

Tracy Edwards commented: “We are really pleased to have Inmarsat onboard as the Maiden Factor’s Connectivity Partner to enable us to further highlight the basic need for access to education as a right for girls around the world. We look forward to sharing our journey with the world and taking our supporters and followers with us on what promises to be an inspiring adventure.”

For a full itinerary and to find out more details about the Maiden Factor visit www.themaidenfactor.org.