Maidentrip

I'm with the guy that says something isn't right . . . . It doesn't add up; and quite frankly, I found the film too effervescent. I think there's something fishy going on, and just meeting people on an island, making friends with a weird couple. Nah. It smells rigged (pun). She's arrogant, and yes, spoiled or something akin to it. I found her annoying. Was glad to see her sailing off into the sunset. Good riddance, Brat!

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. As others have mentioned this movie is about the maturing of a young teenager into a young woman through her sailing journey. What I've enjoyed most about this film is the genuine aspect of her journey, she wasn't handed a million dollar sailing yacht with enough tech to sail itself around the world. Laura and her father picked up a relatively inexpensive and broken down boat and fixed it up themselves. At her launch there was only a handful of people seeing her off and her own mother didn't make it. There was no huge fanfare and you had the feeling that the general public never thought she would make it. Laura didn't have a camera crew or support boats following her around. The at sea filming was done by herself and very insightful as to what was going through her head at various stages of the journey.

This film is a coming of age film and challenges us to rethink what is possible when we set our minds to a particular task.

I've watched the Abby Sunderland and just couldn't compare the two. This film was inspiring as it was a great story.

Are we to believe she sailed around the world, without a support team? Why are there no news articles around January 2012? Why does she always have clean hair in her videos? I am sorry, but something is not quite right. David Blaine street magician can live under water for 100 days without oxygen, and make the Statue of Liberty disappear...

Served as crew member for ten days on the tall ship Stad Amsterdam, departing from St. Maarten on 5 January 2011. Departed Sint Maarten on 20 January; visited the islands of Îles des Saintes, Dominica, Bonaire and San Blas Islands, all located in the Caribbean.

Flew home on 27 February; stayed to 10 March to speak at a boat show and other places, now a figure of considerable media attention in the Netherlands.

Completed the passage of the Panama Canal on 11 April 2011;[59] visited Pearl Islands thereafter.

Just saw this at Hot Docs in Toronto last night. If you want to know what sailing around the world is like, this is the movie for you. Not so long ago, we didn't have the technology to make filming a journey like this so easy. We are shown a pretty complete set of film documenting the various legs of the journey, from sunny becalmed days, to hair raising stormy seas rounding South Africa.

I guess like everyone I wondered how someone so young could make such a journey. We follow the back story of Laura's life as she spends her first 5 years at sea around New Zealand and as a very young girl helping her single dad restore their boat, the Guppy. When you see her on the boat sailing, you immediately grasp that this person is at one with the boat and with the sea and any doubts disappear. The boat is exactly made to order, everything in its place, strong, simple. Restoring and basically rebuilding the boat from scratch was probably the best thing for someone undertaking such a journey. You must be totally aware of absolutely everything on a boat, how it works, and how to repair it.

This doc reminded me of a film I saw about the Golden Globe race in 1968, called Deep Water. Laura refers to Bernard Moitessier and how he fell in love with the sailing and forgot about the race he was on, continuing on into the south pacific.

The animation sequences showing the path of the boat on various charts of the world are very imaginatively done, you get a real sense of the journey. What a way to see our beautiful planet and all the various life forms.

This extraordinary documentary is a winner. Laura Dekker's story is one not just for marine enthusiasts but for everyone. It has the potential to inspire through its simple acknowledgment that boundaries are imposed by others and not by ourselves.

The documentary is mainly just Laura and her boat, Guppy. It reminded this reviewer a lot of the same feeling as Redford's superb All is Lost, and is certainly way better than many other ocean sailing films and documentaries made at huge expense. Maidentrip is simple, clear, very well-edited, with some clever graphics, and it makes for a very good watch indeed.

Above all, this is a film that you wish would be shown to Laura's age group - it demonstrates beyond doubt that allowed the chance they really can be an amazing generation.