Maiden

This is a film that doesn't leave you: the images of gigantic waves and ice bergs and superhuman levels of courage and endurance are hard to process. If it were a work of fiction you would dismiss it as Hollywood hype: but it's not, it really happened and you are with them in the boat to watch their epic achievements. Just see it.

Sail around the world with a fearless female crew - the first ever only 30 years ago to race in the Whitbread and defy critics. Very entertaining, inspiring and funny! A must see even if you're someone who thinks they don't like documentaries.

Greetings again from the darkness. Thanks to Ron Shelton's BULL DURHAM (1988), a favorite sports phrase emerged: 'announcing one's presence with authority'. Perhaps no better phrase exists to describe Tracy Edwards at the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Race. The 24 year old Edwards was the skipper-navigator of the first all-women crew to compete in the race ... a grueling every-three-years event where yachts are sailed around the world in multiple stages/legs.

Director Alex Holmes takes us back to Ms. Edwards' childhood. We see home movies, interviews with friends, and hear stories to prove she wasn't the easiest child to raise. Maybe too much time is devoted to this section, but it picks up when we get to adult Tracy's story about how she was first attracted to the race and got involved as a cook on one of the vessels. She talks about being treated like a servant by the crew and how that inspired her idea to assemble an all-woman crew and race their own boat.

The interviews include other skippers (men, of course), the journalists who covered the race (men, of course), and the crew members from the Maiden. We see them today, and have the "then" photos and clips to gain an appreciation of the 30 years that have passed. We hear that "being girls is like being disabled in the sailing world", and one can sense the attitude (even today) of the competitors.

The race covers 33,000 nautical miles, but Ms. Edwards' historic voyage started long before they set sail. She speaks to the difficulty of fundraising - two years of almost no money, and how Jordan's King Hussein not only inspired her, but also assisted. A second-hand boat at a reduced cost put the crew to work on rehabilitation, and this 'sweat equity' likely made them more determined than ever.

"The probability of not making it is high." Self-doubt and insecurities bubbled up. Once the race got underway, the women were a team. Terrific archival footage puts us right there with the crew - massive waves, ice on the sails, incredible cold and wind. These obstacles from nature care not if the crew is man or woman. Ms. Edwards' leadership is on full display during the various legs of the race. It's clear by the end that they have gained respect of those who doubted them, and the warm reception proves how strong their fan base was. It's certainly not the first sports movie featuring underdogs. In fact, the Jamaican bobsled team is a comparison that comes to mind as a group of dedicated competitors given little chance to succeed by those 'in the know'. Here's hoping the inevitable Hollywood dramatization never occurs, as no actor could tell it better than those who performed the work and raced the race.

The decision to have two cameras on board (one hand held) & to film everything during Maiden's 167 day race gives the viewers great insight into the beauty & dangers of the open ocean, and to the challenges both internal & external for a group of humans trying to both compete & survive. The special features interview of making the doc provides many answers, but would have liked a few minutes more background/update on participants as well as both that boat & that race's history.

Maiden (2018) is a documentary directed by Alex Holmes.

It stars Tracy Edwards, who, in 1989, skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. At the time, "everyone knew" that women didn't belong in competitive yacht racing. Yes--they could sometimes be cooks on long races, but not sailors.

It seems Neanderthal now, but 30 years ago it was a true restriction.

Edwards didn't only skipper the ship. Before then, she managed to obtain a yacht and find a crew. During the grueling race, she was also the navigator.

Edwards was a determined, capable sailor. However, she didn't always play well with others. We learn this from her own words, as well as from two of her crew members--Jeni Mundy and Mikaela Von Koskull.

Normally, I avoid movies about people who climb dangerous mountains or perform other dangerous tasks for thrills and glory. Not so in this case. Yachtsmen thought women couldn't race, and the all-woman crew thought they could. This was a true step forward for gender equality, and deserves to be applauded as such.

We saw this film at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. Because of the footage of the yacht in action, this is a movie that should be seen on a large screen. However, if the small screen is your only option, see it that way.

Maiden has a very strong IMDb rating of 7.6. I think it's even better than that.