Director: Mary Mazzio
Mighty Mary chronicles an amazing group of “we eat nails for breakfast” type of women: the first all-women’s sailing team to contend for the famed America’s Cup, the holy grail for one of sport’s most elite and exclusive racing events. This team was groundbreaking, beginning with an advertisement in the New York Times. From there, a group of world class and Olympic sailors as well as Olympic rowers came together, a team which included a deaf sailor, a Native Hawaiian sailor, and the first African American sailor to ever win an America’s Cup race (as a coach of this novice, erstwhile team). What was dismissed as a publicity stunt turned into something unimaginable. This motley crew (sailing aboard Mighty Mary) stunningly eliminated Stars & Stripes from contention. However, a secret backroom deal the night before the race upended that result. This is a true underdog story about a team which reshaped what could be possible in a sport that had long been inaccessible.