Sailing Movies & TV Shows

Everyone has their list, and this is in no way an exhaustive list, let us know your favorites and we will add it to the list below.

Movies

• Adrift (2018) - A true story of survival, as a young couple's chance encounter leads them first to love, and then on the adventure of a lifetime as they face one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history.
• All is Lost (2013) - After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face. We have heard, and agree, that the writing of this is off as it should have been Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, not SOS. Apart from this slight writing error, this is a great reminder of all the bad things that can go wrong, and what happens when they all go wrong in perfect sequence.
• Captain Phillips (2013) – The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
• Captain Ron (1992) – A Chicagoan inherits an old yacht. He, his wife, daughter and son fly to a Caribbean island and hire a dubious Captain Ron to sail them on an adventure to Miami.
• Dead Calm (1989) – After a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.
• Deep Water (2006) – A documentary about the disastrous 1968 round-the-world yacht race.
• Kon-Tiki (2012) – Legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl's epic 4,300-mile crossing of the Pacific on a balsawood raft in 1947, in an effort to prove that it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.
• Maiden (2018) – The story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, who became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) – During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) – In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth to bring a cargo of bread-fruit from Tahiti but the savage on-board conditions imposed by Captain Bligh trigger a mutiny led by officer Fletcher Christian.
• The Perfect Storm (2000) – An unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.
• True Spirit (2023) – The story of Australian teenager, Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo nonstop around the world.
• White Squall (1996) – Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage.
• Wind (1992) – Romance and adventure happen during the America's Cup series of yachting races.

Television

• 180° South (2010) – The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
• 80º North – Sailing on Top of the World – 8 crew, 1 sailboat, and 3 weeks sailing on top of the world. A 4 part documentary series brought to you by the crew of SV Delos.
• Below Deck – The Bravo series and spinoffs has taken viewers to some of the world's most beautiful locations—Tahiti, Phuket and Antigua, just to name a few—all while chronicling the (surprisingly dramatic!) lives of the crew members who work and live aboard a superyacht during charter season.
• Chasing Bubbles (2016) – A documentary about the journey and spirit of Alex Rust, a farm boy turned day trader from Indiana who, at 25, abandoned his yuppie life in Chicago, bought a modest sailboat, and set out to sail around the world, learning as he journeyed.
• Coyote: The Mike Plant Story (2017) – Mike Plant burned his way through life by an unconventional set of rules, leading him to dark corners of the world before finding his passion and the pinnacle of a sport that celebrates individuals who race around the world on a sailboat.
• Expedition to the Edge (2020) – A rag tag group of family and friends quickly learn the price of adventure when a voyage with friends unravels into a life-or-death crisis forcing all hands-on-deck. An unfiltered look at the motivations, fears and struggles of a crew who survived a perilous 11-month journey into the legendary Northwest Passage, EXPEDITION TO THE EDGE is the story of one family on their epic, emotionally charged journey to follow their dream and have the adventure of a lifetime.
• Maidentrip (2013) – 14-year-old Laura Dekker sets out on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream to become the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone.
• Morning Light (2008) – Experience an inspiring true-life adventure aboard the high-tech sloop MORNING LIGHT. Fifteen rookie sailors have one goal in mind -- to be part of her crew, racing in the most revered sailing competition on Earth, the Transpac Yacht Race.
• Robin Knox-Johnston: A Force of Nature (2020) – A documentary about possibly the most famous sailor in modern times. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the first man to sail non-stop and alone around the world. He relives the journey and shares never before seen photographs and diary entries.
• The Weekend Sailor (2016) – In 1973, with almost no experience, Mexican captain Ramon Carlin raced against the superstars of sailing in a 9 month deadly round the world regatta winning the overall prize.