Jemima Lines has spent her life climbing mountains, surviving in some of the world’s harshest environments and pushing herself to the limit.
Now, the 29-year-old adventurer is preparing for the greatest challenge of her career after becoming the first woman in almost 90 years to be selected for Britain’s America’s Cup team.
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Lines has been unveiled as part of GB1’s crew for next year’s America’s Cup in Naples, making history after earning a place in the British challenge backed by the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Her selection follows the introduction of rules requiring every team to include at least one female sailor on board, but Lines has little doubt she earned her place on merit.
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“It’s totally surreal,” she told the Daily Telegraph.
“They kind of headhunted me. I think they had an idea of the role they wanted to fill and I sort of ticked most of the boxes.”
The engineer and elite kitefoiler has built one of the most remarkable CVs in British sport.
Raised in Kent by her father Ralph Crathorne, a former special forces soldier, Lines and her three sisters were encouraged to embrace adventure from an early age, often squeezing in kitesurfing sessions before school.
“My father was such a legend,” she said.
“Everything I’ve ever done, how we’ve grown up, is because of him.
“We’d often be late to school because he had taken us all to the beach, and we’d be kiting before school. It was such a cool upbringing.”
Crathorne died earlier this year, aged 67, in a mountaineering accident in Scotland, making her America’s Cup call-up even more emotional.
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“It was one of which my father would have been so proud,” Lines admitted.
She has also drawn inspiration from the memory of her younger sister Sasha, who died from a brain tumour aged just eight.
Since then, Lines has packed more into her life than most could imagine.
She represented Great Britain in kitefoiling, cycled solo around Iceland before riding the length of Norway, gained a first-class engineering degree from Bristol University and became an instructor with Bear Grylls’ Survival Academy after being recommended by the TV adventurer himself.
She has also led expeditions to Everest Base Camp and K2 Base Camp, while setting high-altitude kitesurfing records in both Tajikistan and Bolivia.
Those experiences caught the attention of GB1, with skipper Dylan Fletcher believing her engineering expertise and ability to remain calm under pressure made her the ideal addition.
“I think for me it’s that engineering background that’s the key,” Fletcher said.
“She’s an engineer who also understands flying and kites and she’s used to going at 40 knots. She was also very calm with her communication.”
Lines will now become the first female sailor to represent Britain’s Royal Yacht Squadron-backed America’s Cup challenge since Phyllis Sopwith competed in 1934 and 1937.
For a woman who has already conquered mountains, glaciers and oceans, another piece of history now awaits on sailing’s biggest stage.
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