The double Olympic champion, America's Cup skipper, SailGP tactician and ainslie + ainslie ambassador continues to blaze a trail at the top of her sport
Hannah Mills is remembering the moment she became hooked on the sea.
“We were on a family holiday down in Cornwall and my two older brothers had been put on a sailing course. I was seven years old and you had to be eight to do it. I was fuming,” she says.
“So one afternoon, they kindly said that I could come out for a little jolly. I think I spent most of the time behind the boat on a bodyboard being towed, but that feeling of being out on the water, in the elements, a couple of miles offshore was just mind-blowing. And then being in control and steering a boat and feeling the wind. That was it for me. I was just begging Mum and Dad to let me carry on.”
Whoever bent the rules that day deserves a little credit for what has come since.
Now 36, Hannah is the most successful British female Olympic sailor of all-time, a three-time World Champion in the 470 class and team principal of the Athena Pathway programme, which she co-founded in 2022 with Ben Ainslie to help fast-track development and diversity into the sport.
In October 2024, she skippered the team in the first ever Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona, which they came agonisingly close to winning.
At the time it was “heartbreaking” to come in second behind the Italians, but a little bit of distance has allowed her to see the positives.
“To be a part of that first ever event with 11 other teams really driving women sailing forward was a groundbreaking moment,” she says. “We had a third place finish in the Youth America’s Cup and second in the Women’s America’s Cup, and while at the time we were obviously disappointed to not win one or both of the events, to see the awareness and engagement it brought to the sport was incredible.”
There hasn't been too much time for reflection, as Mills’s attention has immediately turned to the high-octane 2025 SailGP season, where she is tactician for the Emirates GBR team.
"It's the coolest feeling and the adrenaline is sky-high but your best performance relies on not getting distracted."
It’s her fifth season in what is sailing’s equivalent of F1, with twelve teams flying along beside each other in some incredibly tight circuits. The racing is often spectacular.
“It’s amazing. Just the coolest feeling," she says. "The adrenaline is sky-high but you know that your best performance relies on you tempering that and ensuring that you're doing your job to the best of your ability, and not getting distracted by the fact that you're sailing these insanely cool boats racing around the world’s most spectacular harbours having a wild time.”
“I think that’s any athlete's top priority,” she adds. “To make sure you are delivering exactly what’s required of you when the pressure’s really on.”
After a strong start to the season for the Emirates GBR team, including a first victory in Sydney, the racing comes thick and fast – LA, San Francisco, Rio and New York before it’s back to Europe, starting with a home race in Portsmouth in July.
The challenges of competing with the world’s best in all corners of the globe are obvious, not least when you have a two year-old-daughter to prioritise.
“Juggling motherhood with high-performance sailing is very challenging,” she says, with a little understatement. “I think what I've learned most about myself is that I'd never had to win with a baby at my side. The pull is very different and the challenge of doing what you need to do to try to win, versus what you need for your daughter or son – in my case, Sienna – that takes a lot from me."
"For anyone, particularly an athlete, sleep is your foundation of being able to perform on any given day."
Throw in a race and travel schedule that is constantly taking you in and out of different time zones, and it’s no surprise that sleep and recovery have become central to her routine.
“It’s everything, she says. “For anyone to be honest, but particularly for an athlete, it’s your foundation of being able to perform on any given day. The more you can make sure your recovery is really good, that helps your chances of not getting ill. Which is the ultimate battle for most athletes."
Hannah wears an Oura Ring and has been tracking her scores since taking NIGHT POWDER over several months.
“You might feel a bit tired, but seeing your scores increasing has been really inspiring to see. It just gives you that confidence, I suppose, to push a bit harder when you need to," she explains.
Nearly thirty years on from that first day on the water, Hannah doesn’t take for granted that the ocean has been the backdrop to her life ever since.
“It's a very special place to be. I think it's somewhere that a lot of people find mindfulness and calm but there's always an element of danger, where you have to have your wits about you because the weather can change in an instant or the waves or the tides can catch you out," she says. "And yes, cheesily, the salt air. It really does just suck you back.”
Hannah Mills is an ainslie + ainslie ambassador.
