Cork’s Gate Cinemas will stage a special screening of the new Tracy Edwards documentary Maiden, followed by a satellite link Q&A with Edwards herself, on Thursday 7 March.
Edwards was a 24-year-old cook on charter boats when in 1989 she became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race, the precursor to the Volvo Ocean Race.
Maiden charts Edwards’ struggle against the odds — facing chauvinism in the yachting community, and rejection from sponsors — to put a team on the water.
Sailing a second-hand yacht financed by remortgaging her home, Edwards and her crew showed the world that women sailors were capable of doing everything their male counterparts could.
And their legacy can be seen more recently both in the all-woman Team SCA in the 2014-15 VOR, and the most recent edition that encouraged mixed crews. Indeed, Olympians Carolijn Brouwer and Marie Riou were part of the crew on the race-winning Dongfeng Race Team.
Maiden opens on Friday 8 March but tickets go on sale today (Friday 1 February) for the special preview screening in Cork the night before. Tickets go on sale today with details to follow.
