Rachel Burgess

Rachel is used to unexpected calls for help in the middle of the night, be it in the wilds of the Southern Ocean or as a vet of 12 years standing in remote locations. “It makes you appreciate the value of getting sleep when you can,” said Rachel. All the expertise of completing a Covid-interrupted Clipper Race Circumnavigation (2019- 2022) as well as her long-standing involvement in veterinary practice in the UK as well as in Australia will be put to good use now that she is confirmed as being on board Maiden for the OGR. The 36 year old originally tried out in 2021 but simply wasn’t able to commit the time at that juncture. Now she can, and takes her place as Chief Mate, right-hand to skipper Heather. Rachel has a huge volume of experiences to call upon even though she did not get her first taste of sailing until she was 16 years old taking part in a Tall Ship expedition that went from Weymouth to Dublin via several other ports of call. She graduated from the University of Glasgow as a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. Rachel rekindled her passion for the open water when based in Newcastle on Australia’s eastern seaboard and has made a great fist of combining her working life with what she used to view as her hobby. Now she is committed full-time to Maiden for the OGR, looking forward to ‘the rawness of the ocean,’ although she does nurse a fear of ‘running out of Haribo.’ The huge swells of the Southern Ocean are nothing compared to that.