Erica Lush - Professional Sailor

Standing Before the Mast

My guest for this episode is professional sailor, Erica Lush.
Erica began sailing at a young age with positive influence from her parents, and followed her passion sailing competitively for her high school and university teams.
Erica is also involved in the Maiden Factor. Maiden carried the first all-female crew to sail around the world when Tracey Edwards skippered her in the 1989/1990 Whitbread Round The world Race. Having fallen in disrepair from neglect, Tracy found Maiden in 2015 and set about raising funds to bring her back.
Erica talks about her involvement in sailing on Maiden with the foundation in a professional capacity, as well as the mission of The Maiden Factor. We hear about her experiences bringing Maiden through both the Panama and Suez canals in the same year, handling repairs underway and the value of having a bell pepper aboard.
She also gives us the background and plan forward for the program, and how COVID has had an impact on that.
For many summers Erica has been involved with the 12 Meter charter fleet here in Newport. Last summer Eric captained the 12 meter Weatherly - which had recently sold - and she shares some of her experiences with us.
With COVID placing a lot of programs on hold, Erica has delved into the world of double-handed sailing and she shares some insights about teamwork and boat management when there’s just two of you.

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