‘SAIL’ set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Friday 11 September 2026, is the definitive real-life documentary of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup, held in Barcelona in 2024.
Filmed over two years, SAIL is a compelling documentary, beautifully capturing on-water, off-water and behind the scenes footage, directed by Academy Award winners Frank Marshall and Evan Hayes, with the support of Skydance Productions and the in-house broadcast team at the America’s Cup, detailed to capture the ‘real’ story of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona.
The first behind-the-scenes documentary of a contemporary America’s Cup, where the producers were afforded unfettered access to the teams and to key sailors, team principals and support teams as they raced through the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series to the 37th Match against the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand.
Utilising onboard film footage and unique angles captured by the America’s Cup broadcast team, the action on the water is brought thrillingly to life with never-seen-before scenarios that resonate the pressure that the finest sailors in the world were under to perform.
Shot with IMAX-certified digital cameras from onboard the boats and in the middle of the fleet, SAIL puts audiences in the cockpit of the fastest class of sailing yacht ever built, machines engineered with Formula 1 technology on the razor’s edge, reaching speeds in excess of 100 km/h. It is racing with a visceral, in-your-face immediacy never before brought to the sport.
Featuring all the main characters of the modern-day America’s Cup, it’s a deep dive into their psychology of winning and campaigning with so much on the line. Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand and the Defender of the America’s Cup features prominently.
One of the most compelling storylines is the coming battle between Sir Ben Ainslie and the Chairman of the INEOS Group that backed INEOS Britannia’s campaign, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The film delves into the real personalities behind the media profiles of each and captures rarely seen moments of anxiety, angst and anger that fuels these ultimate competitors in both life and sport.
Max Sirena, the CEO of Luna Rossa is heavily profiled as the beaten finalist in the Louis Vuitton Cup and the devastation and desolation that he personally felt after the event concluded.
Same too for Terry Hutchinson, the CEO of American Magic who put everything he had into the campaign, often to the detriment of the family unit, yet still came up short, being eliminated by Luna Rossa in the semi-finals.
SAIL is aired at the Venice Film Festival on 11 September 2026 and will be shown at other film festivals in due course ahead of wider distribution.