It turns out the Pacific Northwest can claim one of the spots on the original Maiden crew! The recent Maiden movie and renewed interest in the first all-woman crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race raised the question of our connections to that crew.
Images from the original Maiden crew gathering last year. Amanda is second from right in this photo, next to skipper Tracy Edwards.
The boat is currently going around the world with stops to fund raise via The Maiden Factor Foundation for girls’ education internationally.
If you look closely at the closing credits you can see “Mandi Swan” listed as one of the crew. Amanda Swan-Neal, now of Roche Harbor when she isn’t off sailing, wasn’t featured during the documentary, but she was certainly a big part of the project. Amanda (originally from New Zealand) is known to Northwest Sailors for the seminars in our region and the cruising events she offers with husband John Neal at Mahina Expeditions. She’s also known as the Galley Essentials contributor at 48 North.
Amanda took time during a stopover in Fiji to answer a few general questions I had about the race and movie:
“I was on the Maiden Project for 3 years as rigger and was one of the original crew.
“Yes, I’ve just seen Maiden. I was flown to London last year for a screening of the documentary by Black Dog Films but we were told it was not finished. It was the first time we’d been together since the end of the race. Michele was the only crew member not present as she was attempting to sail the NW passage from Greenland on her own boat.
“I was on the Maiden Project for 3 years as rigger and was one of the original crew. One our our recent crew has Hollywood connections so he has just given me a screener’s copy of the SONY version. SONY picked up the film after it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival.
“On a personal note it saddens me that the entire crew were not introduced in this Documentary.
“I’m in touch with Tracy (Edwards), and a percentage of the profits from my new Marine Diesel Engine Essentials: A Learning and Coloring Book go to her Maiden Foundation.”
Maiden was here in Seattle for a few days, at both Bell Street and Shilshole, and the crew taking her around the world on its fundraising mission gave a presentation at CYC. I spoke to Belle, one of the crew, about Maiden after her extensive refit. The old IOR warhorse is a much more user friendly and safe boat than during her Whitbread days. A new carbon rig, with shrouds led to the rail and non-overlapping headsails, is a lot better than back in the day. An sprit is designed for asymmetrical flying sails. The coffee grinders are still there, and during the tours plenty of kids (and a few of us adults) took turns.
I saw the movie in the theater, and it was great. If you missed the movie – it’ll surely be in theaters for a while and then live forever online. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.
Thanks Kurt for the “shout out” on Maiden. I look forward to connecting with you at the Seattle Boat Show in Jan. 2020. SeattleBoatShow.com will post my seminar schedule after Dec. 1.
Aloha.