“A sort of seafaring Battle of the Sexes, Maiden is an enlivening bit of documentary filmmaking about an all-female sailing crew that takes on harsh oceanic conditions and even rougher treatment from the sexist international sailing community.

“It’s mostly the story of Tracy Edwards, an unlikely young and untested British captain of the vessel appropriately named Maiden, which just as easily could have been called Audacity. Edwards, outwardly fierce but inwardly insecure, skippered the first all-female team to compete in the gruelling nine-month Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.

“Using archival footage and fresh recollections, director Alex Holmes offers an illuminating look into the weird world of jibs and rigging in a film that transcends the action of the sport. Blatant chauvinism was the dry rot of the sailing world; one male journalist called the Maiden ‘a tin full of tarts.’ This story of personal redemption tacks drama by the nautical mile. ‘The ocean is always trying to kill you,’ says Edwards, a woman, like most, who knows about facing high odds and salty conditions.” The Globe and Mail


No screenings currently scheduled.
