The new documentary “The Mighty Mary” brings the story of the first all-woman team to compete in the America’s Cup back to the North Shore and Oyster Bay’s Oakcliff Sailing Center, where much of the film’s present-day footage was shot.
Led by Dawn Riley, now Oakcliff’s executive director, the 1995 America3 team challenged the male-dominated sailing establishment and advanced further in the competition than many expected, all the way to the semifinal round. Riley, who was the team’s captain, said that the documentary revisits an important chapter in sailing history while highlighting the work Oakcliff continues to do today.
“It started off being kind of like my soup to nuts, my beginning to modern day,” Riley said. “It was supposed to include Oakcliff, and then there was so much meat for the 1995 campaign, which was the first, and so far only, all-women’s team to race.”
Directed by Mary Mazzio, the documentary combines archival footage with interviews with more than 60 people involved in the story, Riley said. The film was released on Sept. 11 in theaters nationwide for a limited run, and has also screened in Europe. It features narration by Elizabeth Banks and Hugh Jackman, who also served as executive producers.
The film crew came to Oyster Bay in May 2025, Riley said, when former members of America3 and other America’s Cup teams gathered for a reunion at Oakcliff. “We had a reunion of men and women from the ’92, ’95 and 2000 cups in Oyster Bay in May of ’25,” Riley said. “So all of the modern footage in this film is shot in Oyster Bay.”
For Merritt Palm Keffer, one of the sailors featured in the film, the reunion was an opportunity to reconnect with teammates and revisit the experience three decades after the 1995 campaign. “The fun part for me was definitely the reunion, which occurred at Oakcliff,” Keffer said, “and Dawn and her sister and her mom and all of the Oakcliff staff worked so hard to make sure that we had awesome boats to sail (at the reunion).”
Keffer, who sailed under her maiden name, Merritt Palm, grew up in the Detroit area, and began sailing as a child under Riley. She competed in sailing programs, and was running a junior program at Lauderdale Yacht Club, in Florida, when she was selected for America3.
The team brought together sailors with varying levels of experience, most of whom had never taken part in the America’s Cup. The campaign, Keffer said, required the sailors to develop quickly while dealing with the pressures of competing in a male-dominated sport.
“I think the story is one of resilience, one of perseverance,” she said. “I was very skeptical of how [the documentary] would work out, just because Mary Mazzio herself isn’t a sailor, but I think she did a really good job capturing the essence of our team.”
The 1995 campaign also required the team to overcome significant competitive and logistical challenges. Many of the women had never raced on the type of boats used in the Cup before joining the team, Riley said.
The film also revisits the political and competitive controversies surrounding the 1995 series, as shown in the film. Riley described the competition as one marked by “politics and technology and strategy and shenanigans,” while Keffer said that seeing some of the events again brought back strong emotions.
For Riley, the documentary also connects the accomplishments of the 1995 team and Oakcliff’s current mission of developing sailors and leaders.
“We’re a public nonprofit,” she said. “We’re bringing attention to the sport. We’re training. We train the Oyster Bay High school sailing team. We scholarship in so that there’s never a problem with need. So that’s our mission: building leaders with sailing.”
The 1995 team demonstrated that women could compete at the highest level of the sport, Keffer said, and the documentary can introduce that story to a new generation. “I think we did have an impact, and I think at the very least, it opened women sailors in particular,” she said. “The women show that women sailing, or sailing with men in general, is a thing.”
The Cinema Arts Centre, in Huntington, is planning to screen the film, although no date has been set.
For Oakcliff, she hopes that viewers who are inspired by the documentary will get involved with sailing themselves. “Anybody who watches this and is excited about the sport can come and train, come learn, or support,” she said.
To learn more about Oakcliff, visit OakcliffSailing.org.
