Lana Coomes

The 18 year old from Puerto Rico is the youngest of the crew but has already made such an impression that older members of the sailing community have commented that Lana reminds them of Tracy Edwards at the same age. ‘Poor girl,’ says Tracy. Coomes has been ‘a breath of fresh air,’ since joining the team in Brazil in the spring for try- out legs to the Azores and on to the UK. Lana was never far from water when growing up in Puerto Rico so much so that by the age of 12 she was already certificated through the American Sailing Association and the International Yacht Training body. Summers were spent scuba-diving, kite-surfing and sailing round the lesser Antilles. Lana is also an accomplished student and will go on to study Environmental Sustainabilities at university once she has completed her voyage round the world. Maiden is to be her Gap Year experience which beats the usual teenage pursuits at that age. What particularly stimulates is the prospect of ‘celestial navigation,’ using only the sun, moon and stars to plot a course and find the way home. Lana loves the ‘self-reliance’ of sailing as well as the challenge it presents of ‘determination, grit and hard work.’ She hopes that her own experiences will show people back in Puerto Rico ‘just what is possible if you set your mind to a dream.’ That’s exactly how Tracy Edwards used to think all those years ago.