Green light for Maiden 2

A jubilant Ms Edwards confirms that her team will be racing the Jules Verne Trophy

Were it not for her driving in her car at the time of our conversation one would get the impression that Tracy Edwards was jumping up and down with joy. After a year of looking, after two major sponsors saying 'yes' and then pulling out, the former Maiden Great Britain skipper has confirmed to The Daily Sail that she now has the money to get her giant catamaran Maiden 2 around the world in an attempt on the Jules Verne Trophy this winter.

"We do have the money...Words cannot describe how releaved I am," enthuses Edwards. "It was looking pretty scarey for a while. I thought I was going to lose the boat and my house and all my friend’s money. It was pretty horrifying. We were really looking into the abyss for a while."

Later in the interview she actually breaks into song (she is Welsh after all). "It's a three year programme, so I'm VERY VERY HAPPY".

The exact details of who and why have yet to be released, but we understand it is a mixture of corporate and private money. The boat is remain called Maiden 2. "I can’t say anything about it yet, until we launch," she continues. "which we want to do it with a bit of a bang, which they obviously deserve. But it is an interesting deal."

Currently Maiden 2, the boat which so far this year has won Edwards' team the outright 24 hour record, the Cowes-St Malo record and - briefly - the Round Britain & Ireland record - is out of the water at Spitfire Quay in Southampton, undergoing a refit. "It’s pretty basic. We’re not doing anything rash," she says of the work. "We have a fair idea of things we want to do next year, but we won’t be doing them this year. So no major modifications pre-Jules Verne."

The refit will take until the end of the year. Then the team will go training for a couple of weeks before going on standby for the record attempt. There was the prospect of the training taking place in Spain, but Edwards thinks they have run out of time and are more likely to stay in the Solent or possibly head to Falmouth.

Regarding the potential round the world match race against Kingfisher 2 and Ellen MacArthur's team, Edwards is also enthusiastic. "It has worked out quite well," she says. "We’ll both be ready at the same time. They’ve got some catching up to do on the sailing, which we’ve already done and we’ve got some catching up to do on the refit which they’ve already done, so it’s all worked out quite well."

Over the last few months there has been an ominous silence from Reading as rumour exchange has been burning with news that Edwards had the money, then didn't have the money, then did, then didn't. For Edwards it has been nerve wracking.

"God, I cannot tell you. I have to say MyTravel was one of them and the reason that they pulled out was because four days before they were supposed to sign a three year £12 million deal with us which we’d been negotiating for three months, they must have known they were waiting for their end of year figures and of course four days before we were supposed to sign – FOUR DAYS BEFORE - they pulled out because their shares dropped by about 10 zillion points. That was the thing which really dropped us in it big time. But looking at the newspapers now I’m actually quite pleased they pulled out because we would have actually have been in more trouble if we’d been linked to them. It’s doesn’t bear thinking about it really."

Although a three year deal is in place Edwards is not finished banging on the door of corporate Britain - or indeed board rooms in any other countries. "We’re still looking for sponsorship and we’re looking for various packages. There’s a lot of interest and there’s a real feel of change in the market. I don’t know if other people are feeling it as well. There’s a feeling that recovery is on the way. I don’t know if it is America, but there’s a feeling that next year the purse strings will be less tight and people might spend more money on sponsorship.

The crew is more or less finalised and will feature Brian Thompson as co-skipper and Helena Darvelid and the highly experienced Frenchman Herve Jan as watch leaders and Adrienne navigating. The team will obviously be mixed rather than all-female as was originally envisaged. There is silence when I ask Tracy if she is going.

At present a majority of the crew are off on their own projects, although some are taking part in the refit and a full gathering of the Maiden clan is expected on 1 January.

Good news all round in The Daily Sail's humble opinion.