Tracy Edwards on the Incredibly True Story of 'Maiden'

With a little help from Jordan's King Hussein, an unlikely friend she had met in her travels, Maiden entered the race with its all female crew. But not without drama: a crewmember was lost due to injury in a practice run and the Maiden nearly abandoned the race before it began.

Edwards and her crew persevered, despite a press that derided them and other teams that dismissed them. "Maiden was either met with antipathy or aggression — not really much in between," Edwards told CNN. "As we got more successful it got worse — they did not like that at all." They were taken seriously when they won the second leg of the race — a grueling trip across the Southern Ocean to get to Australia; then when they won the third — a fast jaunt to New Zealand — they became media sensations.

Their journey is chronicled in Alex Holmes' engrossing documentary "Maiden," which benefits enormously from video footage taken on the voyage by crewmate (and Tracy's childhood friend) Jo Gooding. Holmes spent two years gathering the footage before assembling his finished film, which intersperses this original footage with interviews with many of the crewmembers who recall with amazing accuracy the details of the voyage. The film, which opened on June 28 in selected cities, holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

To see if the Maiden wins the race is one of the numerous reasons to see this film, which prominently features the warm and articulate Edwards in tandem with the footage of her younger self. She was much the same way on the phone when EDGE spoke to her recently.

EDGE: Did Alex Holmes approach you about making the film?

Tracy Edwards: I did a talk at his daughter's school just down the road from me in London. He says as he was listening to me tell the story he saw a film — a narrative film with a script. He didn't think any of this had been filmed. When he told me that he was thinking of this as a scripted film, I said, "that's a shame because we've got all these footage." The problem, though, was finding it because it was everywhere. But it was a labor of love for them to put it together and they have done an amazing job.

EDGE: Whitbread encouraged the yachts to film their voyages by supplying video equipment. How did your crewmate and childhood friend Jo Gooding end up being the videographer?

Tracy Edwards: The Whitbread asked for volunteers to take camera and we said we would. And Jo volunteered. She went to the BBC for four days for training and came back with a camera. And I think what really made it was her emotional intelligence in filming, which turned out to be exactly what Alex wanted. It was very different from what the men filmed on their boats. Theirs was very much straightforward reporting — just the facts. And when we realized there would be time when Jo couldn't film because we needed all hands on deck, we got a second camera and attached it to the mast, which no one else actually did. It was a pretty big camera — I know this isn't saying much, but it looked bigger than Jo. It was not an easy job and she filmed in the worst conditions. She climbed around that deck with that camera — what she did was extraordinary.

EDGE: Did you work with Alex in shaping the film?

Tracy Edwards: No. I didn't. He spent two years collecting the footage, then Katie Bryer, who is this extraordinary editor, spliced it together. Alex knew the story from what I told him, and every so often he would ask me to look at piece and answer a question. What he did that was really clever was not show us anything before we did the interviews, so we weren't colored by seeing the footage. We weren't affected by what he put together in the interviews — we sincerely remembered that stuff. He said he was astounded how well the stories corroborated. And it wasn't until they had nearly put together the entire film that we got to see it. And we were all quite surprised by how well he told the story. It felt like we were telling it. The film flows so well. I am astounded by what he did.

EDGE: The level of sexism aimed at you and your crew was quite shocking. Are you surprised today looking back at it?

Tracy Edwards: I am surprised by how we accepted it. I don't have a memory of being upset or angry by it; I was annoyed and frustrated. When you hear what they say, you think: OMG. But what's shocking is that we dealt with it. But we were so fixated on the race and doing well that his misogyny around us was just white noise.

EDGE: Your mother was instrumental in shaping what you did, but you had a very difficult time with her early on...

Tracy Edwards: Everything good that I am is from my mom. I have strong memories of her guiding me through my early years. When I left home, I hated her because she hadn't seen what was going on with my stepfather. But she's not telepathic and I didn't tell her. We fell apart for quite awhile. It wasn't until I did the 1986 race that I allowed her back into my life. I can't imagine how horrible those years must have been there. But she followed that race around the world, and again with Maiden. She has been such an instrumental figure in my life.

EDGE: There's a great scene when you tell her that you want to do this, and she tells you that you could do anything if you put your mind to it, but you never complete anything. Was that hard for you to take?

Tracy Edwards: No. It was insightful to me because I realized what she was thinking about was it didn't matter how many things I started and finished or not finished — on my own, but that here I was involving a lot of people in my dream. And I can't bring these people into a project and then walk away. She said to me that I have to be so committed to this. She had the great foresight to see how this would attract a number of people who would give everything. And I was surrounded by people who gave 100% to this project. I could never have done it without them. If I had walked away, that would have been horrendous.

EDGE: In the film you are sometimes remote to the crew, and I think that someone at one point says that you kept a lot in. How did you deal with the pressure?

Tracy Edwards: What the film made me see with clarity is that I did need to be — my mom once called me a missile that needed a guidance system. So seeing the film I see how was supported and guided and allowed to be this force because I had this buffer around me. I had that support. I could never have done what I did without those people around me. I was surrounded by great people.

EDGE: Did the film help you put your achievement in focus?

Tracy Edwards: Absolutely. It is hard to put into words, but after the Whitbread, I had a nervous breakdown. I didn't handle the pressures of press or fame or PR very well. And I sort-of disappeared off the face of the earth really. I ran back to Wales. That may be why there is no continuity of the story going forward. It all died down pretty quickly. So what the film reminded me of what we did. English people are often criticized of not being able to take praise, and being Catholic and a female, makes me feel permanently guilty all the time; so I have never been able to accept people's praise. I find it very difficult. But now having watched the film, I am able to say thank you very much. I am so glad you appreciate what you did. I am very proud, and this made me very proud.

EDGE: You were told that being women is a disadvantage, but in what ways was being women an advantage?

Tracy Edwards: I think we did turn disadvantage into advantage. We were not as strong as guys, but we found a boat that was consummate with our strengths and skill levels. We did design the boat ourselves — we took it apart and put it back together in ways that played to our strengths. But I also think that the disadvantages that we felt we had at time were actually advantages because we had to battle so hard to get to the start line that when we were there, we were a battle-hearty team. We saw these big shiny boats with lots of money, but when they got to the start line, they hadn't fought to be there. They were starting their journey; we were already on our journey. And the fact that we stayed together when very few teams did that is a testament to that. I was told to take a crew and stick with them. Stay with one team.

EDGE: Has technologically change yachting in the 21st century?

Tracy Edwards: Absolutely. There are a number of things that have changed the sailing scene. Technology is one of them, but also the amount of money it costs to do these projects puts it out of the reach of ordinary sailors. I would really struggle to do today what we did then on a shoestring. It is very professional and money-orientated now. And what the money buys is great technology, and so much sailing now is down to technology. Whereas then, it wasn't. It was people.

EDGE: One of your shrewdest moves in winning the second leg of the race was to cross the Southern Ocean in the route you chose, which looked physically punishing as can be imagined. Frostbite always seemed imminent and there were icebergs. Why did you choose the route?

Tracy Edwards: I felt very strongly that our course was to go far south. I had a very clear — the second leg was the clearest focus I had on the race. I really did my homework. All my time I spent in port was spent pouring over charts. That was the best job I ever did with navigation. It was horrendous, and I did say so from the start. I explained there were icebergs and didn't think we would hit one, but that was hardly great risk assessment. But we agreed — we were in it to win and we would take those risks and go through it together.

EDGE: On your first Whitbread, you were a cook on an all male crew. You showed great interest in navigation. Were the men supportive of you?

Tracy Edwards: It was a mixed reaction. A lot of those guys were friends of mine and we all liked each other. They didn't think I shouldn't be on a round the world race boat, they just didn't want me on theirs. Because they were a big rusty, crusty professional ocean racing maxi-crew, the last thing they wanted to be is the team with a girl onboard. It wasn't personal. It took a lot of hard work to bring them around. But I went from being the girl on the boat to being its lucky charm. Though with 17-big brothers, getting a date was an absolute nightmare. We entered the race as very good friends and they were all supportive of me when I put together the Maiden.

EDGE: Did you get back together with the Maiden crew to watch the film?

Tracy Edwards: Alex put together a screening at BAFTA last year and invited family, friends, colleagues, contacts and us. We watched the film together pretty much for the first time. I hadn't seen the finished product, just bits and pieces. We were overwhelmed at how brilliant it was. We said the same things, really. None of us could believe that was really us up on the screen. I had always thought of myself as a bit of a twit, a bit of an idiot, my younger self; but when I watched the film I said, "wow. I was a lot more sensible and together than I thought I was." We all had trouble identifying with these young women on the screen. That was across the board.

EDGE: If a narrative film were to be made of your story, who do you think should play you?

Tracy Edwards: I really don't know. You would have to find somebody pretty young — someone short and feisty.

EDGE: What is it about sailing that would want you do this?

Tracy Edwards: For me, the reason I wanted to do Maiden is that I wanted to navigate. I didn't want to cook. The only way I could make it happen was to do it myself because no male crew would let me on a boat as a navigator. So I had to change the world I was living in and make it something else so I could do what I wanted to do. It started out with a selfish reason, than I quickly realized it was about women, it is about fighting a system, it is about fighting patriarchy. What we were doing wasn't just for us, it was for everyone. It became all consuming after that.

EDGE: Early on in the story, you are asked if you are a feminist and you reply that you are not. Did you regret having not said you were?

Tracy Edwards: When you think back to those days — I was 23-year old when I did that interview — feminism had been changed into such a nasty word and I didn't want people not to like me. Now when I think back, it's like, "you muppet." But then halfway though the trip, I realized I am a feminist and didn't care if people like that word. If it meant equality and fairness, I am all for that, and that's what we are fighting for. And in the UK that word has changed now — it is a lot more positive and inclusive.

EDGE: In 2014, the Maiden came back into your life. Can you explain how?

Tracy Edwards: About two weeks before I met Alex, I received an email from a marina in the Seychelles that my boat was there and rotting away. They were looking after it, but it was in such bad shape that if I didn't claim her, they were going to scrap her. So I went on this parallel journey with Alex — him making the film and me rescuing Maiden. It burst back into my life in this all-consuming way. We crowd-funded to raise the funds to buy her in 2106. Then Princess Haia of Jordan (King Hussein's daughter) heard what we were doing and helped to get it back to England and be restored. It was like a fairy story — just amazing. By the time we did the restoration, Maiden left the UK to do a 2-year world tour. We are using her to raise funds and awareness for girl's education, which is my particular passion. And now the film is traveling around the world.