Catching up with the Cape Horn history makers on board Maiden as they continue to forge a new pathway for women in sailing

After the third leg of the Ocean Globe Race, with the crew safely back in port in Uruguay, Vuyisile Jaca (Vuyi) from South Africa, Junella King from Antigua, and Maryama Seck from France appeared on the BBC Sportshour podcast hosted by Caroline Barker alongside their skipper Heather Thomas and the first skipper of Maiden Tracy Edwards MBE to share their experiences. 

Vuyisile was part of 2021 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award winners Sail Africa, a development foundation based in Durban, South Africa, which aims to increase participation of ethnically diverse and female sailors.  

Junella joined the crew joined the boat in Dubai as an apprentice for the World Tour in 2021. Such was her talent and application that she quickly worked her way up to full crew. At 23, she is also the youngest black woman to race around the Cape. Maryam came aboard in Cape Town, the first time she had sailed with an all-female crew. All three join the small number of women sailors on the list of Cape Horners. 

The current record-setting crew of Maiden follows in the footsteps of the original crew, skippered by Tracy Edwards MBE, who proved doubters wrong by completing the 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race and becoming the first all-female crew to take part in a round-the-world yacht race. 

A chance meeting with actor/director Whoopi Goldberg at the premiere of the Maiden documentary in New York in 2019 has led to a strong bond. Goldberg messaged Vuyi to say that the crew is all so amazing, so inspirational, and that it’s a fantastic achievement.  

Vuyi said, “It meant so much. It was amazing to see the video and know that even famous people like Whoopi go to see our movie and it shows that black girls are breaking barriers. Especially for women and girls everywhere and in my country are being inspired about what we’re doing right now. It’s really a big thing. I never thought in my life I’d be at the stage that I’m at been right now; inspiring people, having people to look up to me. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.” 

Junella and Maryama have also felt the impact of their achievement.  

“It’s phenomenal seeing all the support and a lot of people is behind this and it’s wonderful that we have an amazing platform,” added Junella. “I’m pretty grateful for the publicity about it and the inspiration that we are able to have on younger females, older females as well, every female around the world.” 

Maryama says, “I think it’s really beautiful because we are a crew, we are family, friends and we work together to make the boat go faster. The inspiration is not only on social media, but here in Uruguay. It’s really big. The people remember the Whitbread and notice us in the street or when they come to see the boats. This morning, we had kids coming to visit the boat and you can see in their eyes that they’re so proud of us. This is the best moment; all the support they are bringing and seeing the kids who are now dreaming of doing something like this. This is all really, really beautiful.” 

The next leg of the race begins on 5 March as Maiden returns to the Solent, where she is based. The route takes the crew through the doldrums, a large expanse of ocean where there is not a lot of wind – just another thing for the sailors to contend with but, as they have learned lessons throughout the journey, so they will here. The tightknit team will band together and make it home, just as Tracy’s crew did 35 years ago.  

Images courtesy of The Maiden Factor.