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.
