Tracy Edward’s maxi catamaran Maiden II is on standby for a transatlantic crossing, but without Tracy on board. She is in the UK and embroiled in negotiations with potential sponsors.

The 110ft boat is awaiting the right weather for an attempt on the 3,884-mile passage from Cadiz in Spain to San Salvador, this time with a mixed rather than an all-female crew. They say that if conditions allow, they will have a bash at the record, but that goal is being played down.

The boat broke a daggerboard when she hit a submerged object on the delivery route from Marseille to her training base at Vilamoura Marina in Portugal and repairs will have to wait until San Salvador. Quite apart from the weather, this will make it hard to better the existing record of 10d 14h, or an average of 15.2 knots, set by Grant Dalton in the same boat when she was Club Med.

Instead, the transatlantic is being billed as a training voyage. “This is a difficult record, as you have to have near perfect wind conditions. We’re taking the view that the crossing is for training, but if we get the wind conditions we need then we’ll go for it,” says Edwards.

The ‘we’ refers to her crew, who include eight of her planned all-women crew for the Jules Verne. Questions as to whether Edwards herself will skipper the boat round the world stay unanswered, but it is noteworthy that Adrienne Cahalan and Helena Darvelid are being given the responsibility and are accruing the experience now.

But the crew also includes some very experienced maxi multihull hands, including project manager and erstwhile PlayStation crew Brian Thompson as watch leader. The following list of crew shows that helming skills on this unfamiliar boat are among those still to be honed by Tracy’s women crew.

Adrienne Cahalan Skipper/navigator Aus

Helena Darvelid Skipper Sweden/UK

Mikaela Von Koskull Watch Captain Finland

Emma Richards Helm UK

Sam Davies Rigger UK

Sharon Ferris Sailmaker NZ

Christine Haffi Crew Fr

Anne Monmaseau Crew Fr

Brian Thompson Watch Captain UK

Regis Brule Crew Fr

Stan Delbarre Crew Fr Ben Wood Helm UK

Paul Larsen Helm Aus

Greg Homann Crew Aus

Fraser Brown Crew NZ

Guillermo Altadill Helm Esp