Thirty years after an all-women crew challenged the conventions of sailing’s most prestigious competition, the story of Mighty Mary is coming to New Zealand, with a special premiere at Takapuna Beachside Cinemas next month.
Hosted by the New Zealand Sailing Trust in collaboration with Lawson’s Dry Hills and Takapuna Beachside Cinemas, the black-tie fundraising event will feature special guests Leslie Egnot, the Kiwi skipper who led Mighty Mary’s historic America’s Cup campaign in 1995, and Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Erica Dawson.
The documentary, screening at 6pm on Tuesday 3 November, tells the story of the first all-women’s team to challenge for the America’s Cup, one of sport’s most exclusive prizes. Ticket sales will support the New Zealand Sailing Trust.
Narrated by Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman, Mighty Mary was directed by Olympian and award-winning documentary filmmaker Mary Mazzio. The film charts an audacious campaign that began with an advertisement in The New York Times and attracted responses from women across the United States, including one memorable applicant pictured flexing in a bikini beside a cactus.
What followed was the formation of a crew featuring world-class and Olympic sailors, Olympic rowers, a deaf sailor and a Native Hawaiian sailor. The campaign also involved the first African American sailor to win an America’s Cup race, who joined the team as a coach.
Initially dismissed by some as a publicity stunt, the campaign soon proved it was about far more than headlines. The crew took on some of the sport’s biggest names and eliminated Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes from contention, only for a backroom deal the night before the race to upend the result, according to the film.
At the heart of the story is Egnot, who grew up in Christchurch after her family moved to New Zealand when she was 10. As skipper of Bill Koch’s Mighty Mary in 1995, she guided the team to the challenger final, pushing Conner hard in a compelling series.
Egnot had already established herself among the world’s best sailors, winning silver in the women’s 470 class with Jan Shearer at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The pair finished behind Spain’s Theresa Zabell and Patricia Guerra, recovering from disqualification in the opening race to climb from fourth to second overall after winning the final race.
She later became a contracted coach with Yachting New Zealand and the organisation’s Olympic Operations Manager, continuing her contribution to the sport beyond her own racing career.
The film has received strong reviews in the United States, with USA Today describing it as “inspired”. It won the Maria Mitchell Visionary Award at the 2026 Nantucket Film Festival before opening in US cinemas on 11 September.
Its New Zealand premiere also comes at a significant time for the America’s Cup. The 38th edition was launched in Naples, Italy, on 21 September, with a signature event featuring Mighty Mary. With a woman now guaranteed to win the next America’s Cup as part of an AC75 crew, the film’s themes of opportunity and representation remain particularly relevant.
The Takapuna screening offers an opportunity to celebrate Egnot’s place in New Zealand sailing history, revisit a campaign that challenged expectations and support the next generation of sailors through the New Zealand Sailing Trust.
Get your tickets here.
Watch the trailer here.
Originally published by Yachting New Zealand.
