An excellent documentary on something which I knew nothing about - the very first all-woman crew to sail in the Whitbread Round the World yachting race between 1989 and 1990.
The film mostly follows Tracy Edwards, an Englishwoman with a rather turbulent childhood who, at age 24, gathered the world's first all-woman crew for one of the most famous and prestigious boat races in the world. It was a race that takes the better part of a full year, taking the competitors along five "legs," each consisting of anywhere from 10 days up to several months at sea. It's a grueling test of a crew's skills, even in the best of circumstances. But Edwards and her entire crew faced an even stiffer uphill battle just to find funding and respect in a sport that, until that time, had been thoroughly dominated by men and completely all-male crews.
The chronicle of Edwards' family background does a great job of creating the profile of the type of person it might take to accomplish such a feat, though it does not unfold quite how you might expect. There were certain elements in her background that clearly explain how she was able to accomplish what she did, but there are also some massive obstacles and personal demons which she had to overcome to even get into a position to start realistically mustering a crew and a ship for the race. There's plenty of great historical footage of the planning, preparations, and the race itself, but having Tracy Edwards offering her current recollections and reflections on herself and the entire venture is priceless.
Another wonderful thing about the documentary is that nearly every woman who was part of the crew offers current commentary on the entire experience, so you get a great multi-perspective view from everyone. Even better is that the crew was made up of women from various countries: Ireland, England, Wales, the U.S., Germany, and France, and many of them have brilliant personalities that come through in their interviews. While a fair bit of the humor is of a rather dry, British variety, it certainly elicits more than a few solid chuckles and laughs along the way.
Maiden also obliges with plenty of great original footage taken during the preparations and the actual race itself. This coveys some sense of just how arduous the circumnavigation really is, and allows us to see most of those involved, as the story unfolds. The perils of the journey are far more palpable when you're seeing the crew have to forge their way through polar storms and between treacherous icebergs. Ultimately, I was actually left wanting to know more about some of the seafaring aspects of the race, as it is something that I know almost nothing about, but this may have detracted from the primary story of Edwards's and her crew's struggle against the seas and, at times, their own psyches.
Check this one out, if you're at all interested in good documentaries. My wife went in with only a passing interest, but came out fairly amazed at the story and the women involved.
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