Aussie skipper creates history in Clipper race

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Australian mariner Wendy Tuck became the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round The World yacht race when the 11-month marathon journey finished where it started in Liverpool on Saturday.

The skipper of the Sanya Serenity Coast Clipper 70 yacht, Wendy Tuck, smiles after sailing in the first position into the port of Punta del Este, about 130km east of Montevideo on September 21, 2017 during the first leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race for amateur crew members, which started in Liverpool, England on August 20. /VCG Photo

The 53-year-old, who like the other skippers, is a professional yachtswoman but in charge of amateur crews. She totaled 143 overall points in her boat Sanya Serenity Coast over the eight leg race covering 40,000 nautical miles in what was the 11th edition of the biennial race.

People wave as the Sanya Serenity Coast clipper, participant in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, arrive at Punta del Este's harbor in Uruguay after winning the first leg of the race on September 21, 2017. /VCG Photo

“I hate banging on about women,” Tuck told the British media after her emphatic win. “I just do what I do, but I am very proud.”

Tuck added she was experiencing a bit of shock, disbelief, joy and sadness. "You name that emotion; I'm probably feeling it right now. When we set out as a team we wanted to finish on the podium or the top four, and then to win and to find out the other result as well,” said Tuck.

“I didn't even think about that (being the first woman to skipper the victor), it wasn't on the radar at the start all,” she mentioned. Tuck edged out another female skipper Britain's Nikki Henderson, who made her own history in being at 25 the youngest ever captain in the race, totaling 139 points. The previous youngest skipper to compete was Alex Thomson, who at the age of 26 led a team to win the Clipper Round The World race in 1998.