R.F.F. Maiden

Friday November 22 at 8:30 pm
Tickets $12
Maiden – 97 minutes documentary ,/br>

Rotten Tomatoes 98% critics 97% audience

Maiden is the inspirational story of how Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook in charter boats, became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World in 1989. Tracy's inspirational dream was opposed on all sides: her male competitors thought an all-women crew would never make it, the chauvinistic yachting press took bets on her failure, and potential sponsors rejected her, fearing they would die at sea and generate bad publicity. But Tracy refused to give up: she remortgaged her home and bought a second hand boat, putting everything on the line to ensure the team made it to the start line. Although blessed with tremendous self-belief Tracy was also beset by crippling doubts and was only able to make it through with the support of her remarkable crew. With their help she went on to shock the sport world and prove that women are very much the equal of men.

The 58 foot yacht for which the movie is named was originally launched in 1979. It was sold after the race and had several different owners. Refitted in 2017, Maiden is currently sailing around the world – again crewed by an all-female crew, raising awareness and money for girls’ education.