Winning look at women conquering world
“Maiden” is a documentary about Tracy Edwards, a British sailing captain who led the first allfemale crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.
The film, by Alex Holmes, is interesting in a number of ways, some of them unexpected. First, the idea of an allfemale crew came about because Edwards could get no position on a boat besides that of cook. Then, even when she had a crew and a yacht (called Maiden) in place, she couldn’t find funding from any of the usual sources. No one was interested in supporting a crew of women.
Most surprising was the hostility of the British sports press. Sailing journalist Bob Fisher referred to Maiden as a “tin full of tarts.” That kind of remark could never have flown in the United States as late as 1989. Maybe 1969, but not ’89.
Edwards is a fascinating figure, partly because she seems so average. Following the death of her father when she was 10 years old, she had a miserable childhood. She dropped out of school. Her interest in sailing wasn’t lifelong, but sudden and intense. And nothing in her background suggested that she would be able to skipper and navigate an aroundtheworld journey.
She also wasn’t one of those lucky people possessed of a bizarre, unaccountable confidence. On the contrary, even during the Whitbread race, she was prone to insecurity and selfdoubt. She could be sullen and depressive, withdrawn and nasty to the crew, even borderline defeatist. Yet Edwards had the capacity to rally herself, and something about her must have appealed to her subordinates, because they trusted and liked her, without being blind to her faults.
In footage shot for this film, Edwards appears, as do all the interview subjects, talking directly into the camera, in the style made popular by Errol Morris in “The Fog of War.” These are all proper ladies in their 50s, and you’d never guess they have such a huge adventure in their past — until they start talking.
They have stories to tell. It takes a long, long time to sail a boat around the world. The waters are treacherous. As Edwards puts it, “The ocean is always trying to kill you.” During long stretches of their journey, the women can’t stand on deck without being strapped in. On another boat, on that same leg of the race, two men are blown off deck, and one of them is killed.
Still, ultimately “Maiden” is very much a feelgood movie, a tale of underdogs finding their strength, combined with a character study and a sprinkling of social history. After the Maiden, women in sailing had to be taken seriously.