Nicola Henderson[1] (born 1993[2]) is a British professional yachtswoman. In 2018, she became the youngest ever skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race at the age of 25.[3]
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Sailing career
editHenderson began sailing aged 13. After spending a short period of time with the Sea Cadets, she decided to pursue a career in sailing. Following a season working with "Girls for Sail" (the UK's only all-female sailing school), Henderson skippered three ARC Trans Atlantic races, twice as youngest skipper in the race. She has raced three Caribbean seasons, skippered the RORC Caribbean 600, competed in two editions of the Fastnet Race, and gained further experience teaching and offshore racing in Europe. She was selected as skipper of Visit Seattle in the 2017/2018 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.[4][5]
Two days after her 25th birthday, Henderson skippered Visit Seattle to second place in the 2017/2018 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. She was the youngest skipper in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race history. The same race saw Wendy Tuck become the first woman to win a round the world race.[2]
Henderson will be a guest skipper on Maiden's global voyage in 2018 in support of The Maiden Factor Foundation.[6]
In June 2019, Henderson joined the winning team "Sail Like a Girl" to compete in the Race to Alaska, an engineless boat race from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska.[1]
In November 2019, she accompanied the environmental activist Greta Thunberg on her return voyage to Europe aboard the catamaran La Vagabonde.[7]
Personal life
editHenderson is the daughter of former Conservative Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships Anne Milton.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "Team Sail Like a Girl". Race to Alaska. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
- ^ a b c Adams, Joel (28 July 2018). "Female skipper sails into history as youngest to finish world race". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "British female set to become youngest skipper in Clipper Race history — Practical Boat Owner". Practical Boat Owner. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ "Nikki Henderson". Clipper Round the World. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
- ^ O'Neill, Leona (10 July 2018). "Clipper Round the World Yacht Race: 'Girl power' as skipper Nikki's yacht is first across the line in Londonderry". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
- ^ "The Maiden Factor: Maiden crew". The Maiden Factor. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ Zhou, Naaman (13 November 2019). "Greta Thunberg to hitch a ride to Europe with Australian YouTube influencers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2019.