MAIDEN: Do You Believe in Miracles?

This posting is more than a review of Maiden, the movie.  My interest in sea racing goes back to my early youth when I closely followed the Transpac Yacht Race from San Pedro, California to Diamond Head, Oahu, a distance of 2580 miles, or 2225 nautical miles.  The beauty of this competition is that it begins in July and usually has tradewinds all the way to Hawaii.

And, by the way, ever wonder why we have both?  A nautical mile is equal to one minute of latitude, which turns out to be 1.1508 statute miles.  One knot is one nautical mile per hour.







About the Transpac,  it began in 1906, and the course record was set in 2017 by Mighty Merloe (right), a trimaran, in 4 days, 6 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds.  The biennial race this year began on July 10, with a second start of July 12 and third on July 13 (faster yachts go last).  90 boats in this 50th edition.

As of this morning, Thursday, 18July2019, should be the arrival date for Maserati and PowerPlay Ltd, both 70-foot multi-hulls, with Commanche (100 feet long) and Argo (another 70-foot MH) expected on the 19th.   Shortest yacht?  A Fond Le Girafon at 31 feet. These are racing boats.

There are many bigger ones which just ply the ocean, like #1 A, launched in 2015, is a 473-foot steel schooner with 3 masts, while #2 Sea Cloud, built in 1931, is 359 feet in length and has four masts.   About A, a cost of close to half a billion dollars, including an underwater observation room, owned by Andrey Melnichenko of Russia, who is worth $13.4 billion.

Then there are the luxury crafts with engines, like #1 Azzam at almost 593 feet, and capable of 31 knot speed, costing $600 million.  The owner is Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahan of Abu Dhabi, with an estimated worth of $18 billion.

Me, well, I did not actually do any real yacht racing.  I tend to get seasick on a sail craft.  That canal fronting Ala Moana Beach Park next to Ala Moana Boulevard was my transpac.  African tulip trees produce bright orange flowers, ending with a pod that looks like a canoe.  They are from 6-8 inches long and float.

At the age of ten I wrote yacht names on them and sent them down this canal when the tide dropped, and followed the race into Kewalo Basin.  Morning Star was the dominant yacht in those days, although I liked Kitten, because it was so tiny.





But back to Maiden, she raced in what is today known as The Ocean Race, the longest in the world.   Tracy Edwards, high school dropout and backpacking nomad, served as cook, deckhand and first mate in the 1985-86 competition, then known as the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.  There were four females among the 235 on 22 boats in the race.

In 1989, at the age of 26, she recruited an all-female crew of a dozen for the 32,000-mile race, which is held every three years.  They had no source of real funds and could not find any sponsors.  Knowledgeable seamen made fun of their attempt and were seriously worried about their survival prospects.

Nevertheless, she used her house as collateral and proceeded.  But the cost of the whole journey seemed to be beyond their reach when an angel appeared.  A few years earlier she almost accidentally chatted with King Hussein I of Jordan, where he encourage her to follow her dreams.  From Vanity Fair:

Edwards’s most profound mentorship came from King Hussein, who helped secure Maiden’s sole sponsorship when no one else would take the chance. Their relationship could fill another documentary. Edwards had had no idea who King Hussein was when he boarded a vessel she was working on in Martha’s Vineyard, but they instantly connected. “Everything he did in Jordan was visionary. Women had the vote. They drove cars. They went to university. They wore business suits. There was a church alongside a mosque,” she said. “I remember having dinner with him one night, and turning on the television the next morning and he was with Bill Clinton at the White House talking about the peace process. I was like, I know that guy!”


He happened to be back in the UK during this period when Edwards had just about given up, and got Royal Jordanian Airlines to buy a second-hand 10-year old 58-foot yacht for her.  She and her crew refurbished it and renamed it Maiden.

Most of the film is about the race itself...harrowing, cold, dreary, dangerous, but, at the end, after 167 days at sea, heartwarming and redeeming, for they finished...and placed second in their class.

She wrote Maiden in 1990, and that year was selected Yachtsman of the Year.  She was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.  So you ask, why it took so long to produce the film?  Well, to make a long story short, she entered other races, started a family, went into bankruptcy when a racing event she managed dissolved, got a degree in psychology and became a motivational speaker.

Rotten Tomatoes loved Maiden, bestowing 99%/95% scores.  My only gripe was that the spoken English was almost all British.  I just can't understand what they're saying, especially Tracy.  Somehow, maybe it's the lower frequency, but I could just about comprehend those male voices.  In any case, this is a film well worth your time and money.

So Maiden only came in at #23 in Box Office Mojo Weekend, I don't anymore go to #1, the latest Spider-Man, and #2, the latest Toy Story.  Mind you, Rotten Tomatoes gave both films excellent ratings, so if you're into comic book and children's movies, wish you well.

And her life is hardly over.  There is now the Maiden Factor campaign with a re-refurbished Maiden, and backing from Sir Richard Branson plus the Jordanian Royal Family.  Here is Edwards with HRH Haya of Jordan, daughter of King Hussein.  Last year the new Maiden sailed from Southampton on a 3-year around the world mission, arriving in Honolulu on July 2:

Maiden was docked at the Hawaii Yacht Club and departed for Vancouver on July 11.

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