Maiden

Maiden is a documentary about Tracy Edwards, who at 24 became the skipper of the first all-female crew to take part in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. The film follows how she put the crew together and took on a demanding global sailing competition that had been the preserve of men. The story centres on the determination of Edwards and her teammates as they faced both the sea and the scepticism surrounding their entry.

Alex Holmes directed and wrote the documentary, and produced it with Victoria Gregory through New Black Films. The film was his first directorial credit, followed years later by Chasing Utopia. Much of the screen time belongs to the sailors themselves; Tracy Edwards, Jo Gooding and Angela Heath appear as themselves, alongside John Chittenden, Howard Gibbons and, in archive material, broadcaster Frank Bough. Their accounts are the main source for the events recounted.

The film was released in 2019 and runs 93 minutes. Its worldwide box office take of about 3 million dollars is notable for a British documentary. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.8 from around 2,700 votes, and on TMDB it stands at 7.5 from a much smaller number of votes, indicating a well-regarded film with a modest but positive audience response.