David Farnor | On 02, Feb 2020

Director: Alex Holmes
Cast: Tracy Edwards, Frank Bough, John Chittenden, Bruno Du Bois
Certificate: 12

“First of all, you have to be a bit crazy,” says Tracy Edwards when talking about sailing round the world. Second of all, at the time, you had to be a man. Maiden is a documentary that follows Edwards’ quest to enter the Whitbread Round the World race, and it soon becomes clear that she is aided by the former, driven by the latter and should be celebrated for both.

The documentary takes us all the way back to Edwards’ childhood days, and traces a stubborn streak from her parents’ lesson of being determined through to the grown-up now delivering forceful interviews to camera after the fact. It’s a stubbornness born of experience, of knowledge that the current of the world is stacked in the opposite direction to her; in one heartbreaking moment, we hear not only of the sudden loss of her father but also of how her mother, who took over her dad’s business, was pushed out by rival men because they didn’t want a woman succeeding.

In 1989, it’s just as challenging for her and her crew to be taken seriously in a male-dominated environment – a challenge that’s almost tougher than the nine-month, 33,000 nautical-mile voyage the group are taking on. Indeed, Edwards’ way into the contest was only by starting out as a ship’s cook, which still earned her a wave of backlash, criticism and doubts.

First in line to join her on board was Edwards’ childhood friend, Jo Gooding, who filmed the challenge on the ground, as it were. Director Alex Holmes deftly cuts between that footage and present day vox pops, giving each member of the crew a chance to comment, recall and steer the memories of their shared achievement. That includes a chance to highlight the changing tides of perspective and equality – even if things haven’t change as much as they should – and Bob Fisher and other journalists are duly called out for their sexist reporting of the all-women crew. What’s remarkable, though, is not just the savvy and resilience they all showed then, and the leadership and energy of the 24-year-old Edwards, but the fact that the same spark and fire is still there today. The result is a gripping and inspiring tribute to a determined woman who didn’t just help to change the world, but ran rings round it.

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