Wendy Tuck (born c. 1965) is a yachtswoman and previous chief instructor and principal at the Clipper Race training base in Sydney, Australia.[1] She was the first female skipper to win a round-the-world yacht race.[2]
Sailing achievements
Tuck was born in Australia in 1965.[3] Having begun sailing at the age of 24,[4] she has competed in 13 Sydney Hobart Yacht races[5] and was the first woman skipper to finish in 2017, earning the Jane Tate Memorial Trophy.[6] She won her division in 2015 as Skipper of the Clipper Boat Danang Vietnam.
Clipper 70s setting out on the race on Lough Foyle.
Tuck first took part as a Skipper in the Clipper Round the World race in 2015–16, becoming the first Australian woman to do so.[7][8] In 2017-2018 she became the only Australian to repeat the challenge skippering the 70-foot yacht, Sanya Serenity Coast, over 40,000 nautical miles and six oceans.[9] The yachts are named after the tall ship clippers that raced tea to England. Tuck's crew was not constant and changed regularly throughout the race.[2] On 27 July 2018 12.36 (UTC) she crossed the finish line becoming the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World race (or any Round the World yacht race).[9] The second-placed yacht was also skippered by a woman, Nikki Henderson.[2]
Interviewed after the race, she said, “If one little girl sees this, sees it can be done and has a go, that will be what matters to me.”[9]
She was a guest skipper on Maiden's global voyage in 2018 in support of The Maiden Factor Foundation.[11] Captaining the boat from Sri Lanka to Los Angeles, stopping at Fremantle, Sydney, Auckland, Honolulu, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
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