Nikki Henderson Nicola Henderson (born 1993) 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 The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is a biennial sailing race that takes paying amateur crews on one or more legs of a circumnavigation of the globe in 11 specially designed identical yachts owned by Clipper Ventures. Professional skippers ...

at the age of 25.

Sailing career

Henderson began sailing aged 13. After spending a short period of time with the

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a cadets youth program sponsored by a national naval service, aimed for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or ...

, 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 The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after th ...

, and gained further experience teaching and offshore racing in Europe. She was selected as skipper of ''Visit Seattle'' in the 2017/2018

. 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. Henderson will be a guest skipper on ''

Maiden Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

s global voyage in 2018 in support of The Maiden Factor Foundation. 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 Port Townsend is a city on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. The population was 10,148 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County. In addition ...

, to

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District. With a p ...

. In November 2019, she accompanied the environmental activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

on her return voyage to Europe aboard the catamaran '' La Vagabonde''.

Personal life

Henderson is the daughter of former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships

Anne Milton Anne Frances Milton (''née'' Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British former politician and lobbyist who served as List of education ministries, Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Nikki Living people Greta Thunberg 1993 births British female sailors (sport) Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 21st-century British sportswomen