ReelBob: ‘Maiden’ ★★★★½

By Bob Bloom

Some people have a built-in mechanism when, if told they cannot do something, they set out to prove the naysayers wrong.

Such was the case with Tracy Edwards, who as a British teenager, developed a love for sailing after signing on as a stewardess of a charter boat. She soon rose to become a deckhand and, later, first mate.

She then served as a cook aboard a couple of yachts participating in the 1985-86 British Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.

During this era, sailing was considered a man’s world. Few women participated in competitive racing, and most of those who did were, like Edwards, hired as cooks.

On one of her earlier excursions, Edwards had met King Hussein of Jordan. The king encouraged Edwards to follow her dream of competing in the Whitbread.

Edwards was determined to enter the 1989-90 race heading an all-female crew, when she was only 27 years old.

The story of Edwards, her crew and that race is chronicled in “Maiden,” Alex Holmes’ stirring documentary that follows Edwards and the challenges she faced to realize her dream.

Everyone doubted Edwards, including the chauvinistic yachting press and other yachtsmen.

But Edwards persevered, gathering the 12-woman crew she wanted and, after many setbacks and — with the aid of King Hussein — finding a sponsor, so she could buy a yacht, naming it “Maiden,” and competing.

The movie covers the race, the interactions of Edwards and her crew, the social implications of her feats and the reactions of other skippers and sailors. It also includes archival footage, newly-filmed recollections by Edwards, crew members, yachting journalists and fellow racers.

Holmes is candid, as Edwards and those close to her detail the setbacks and pressures the women endured to fulfill their goal.

“Maiden” is most compelling when it takes us out to sea with the “Maiden.” The battle between sailors and the ocean is a full-time, life-and-death struggle. Storms and waves can wreck a yacht or claim a life by washing a person overboard.

Calm seas impede a yacht’s progress. And a skipper, such as Edwards, is not only responsible for her crew, but for keeping her vessel on course and competitive.

The movie describes the skepticism of others in this tight-knit world who believed the women could not sustain the prowess needed to compete. Their quaint notions of infighting and jealousies — some even hinted the women were lesbians — would scuttle the yacht before the end of the race.

Even the press played a part in this. As “Maiden” crew members recounted, they were not asked the same questions about tactics or sailing as their male counterparts but were queried about how they were interacting with each other and if they had enough makeup aboard for their long voyage.

In the end, though, Edwards and her crew proved to the world that women were just as capable as men and could participate on an equal basis. And to cap off the feat, Edwards was the first woman to receive the Yachtsman of the Year trophy.

“Maiden” is an inspirational documentary that buries the notion that women cannot hold their own with men — whether on land or sea.

It is a film that soars; an adventure that is all the more special because it is true.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

MAIDEN 3½ stars out of 4 (PG), thematic elements, language, smoking, suggestive content