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Edwards breaks Thames speed limit

Maiden II
Maiden II broke the 24-hour speed sailing record last month  


LONDON, England -- British champion sailor Tracy Edwards was told off by police after her giant catamaran broke the Thames speed limit.

Edwards and her 13-member crew were stopped by the river police on Monday morning as they sailed the record-breaking 110ft yacht, Maiden II.

Maiden II was returning to London after breaking the 24-hour speed sailing record on June 13, covering 697 miles at an average speed of 29.04 knots.

Edwards said it was doing about 10 knots on the Thames yesterday -- 2 knots above the speed limit.

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"The police were really great -- they just pulled up alongside us and said `You were going a little bit faster than the eight knots allowed on the river,''' Edwards told the British Press Association.

"We don't actually use the speedo when we're not sailing.

"They were very nice. One of them did actually say, `Who do you think you are -- Tracy Edwards?' So I said yes."

"We thought we were being quite conservative," she said.

Maiden II beat Steve Fosset's 24-hour record by eight miles and the crew are due to be presented with the trophy for the EDS 24-Hour World Speed Record later this week.

Edwards plans to try for a second time to smash a round-the-world sailing record with an all-female crew later this year.

She will attempt to win the Jules Verne trophy, currently held Bruno Peyron. The race involves sailing 26,000 miles from the English Channel round the Cape of Good Hope and past Cape Horn in less than 71 days and 14 hours.

However, Maiden II needs $4.6 million in sponsorship to attempt the race, and hopes to raise money for charity while sailing.



 
 
 
 






RELATED STORIES:
• Edwards' Maiden II sets record
June 14, 2002
• MacArthur, Edwards face-off
June 21, 2002
• Edwards misses island record
June 26, 2002
• Edwards back for Jules Verne attempt
February 27, 2002

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