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Olympic champions spearheading Emirates GBR's bid for glory on home waters in Portsmouth

Hannah Mills and Dylan Fletcher are backing Team Emirates GBR to bounce back from a freak crash in their last race

[Emirates GBR athletes Dylan Fletcher and Hannah Mills and team principal and CEO Sir Ben Ainslie joined SailGP executives Andrew Thompson and Leah Davis in central London ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix]

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Emirates GBR athletes Dylan Fletcher and Hannah Mills and team principal and CEO Sir Ben Ainslie.(Image: Jason Ludlow for SailGP)

Olympic champions Hannah Mills and Dylan Fletcher are hoping to get Team Emirates GBR back to winning ways in their home SailGP race this weekend.

The British team suffered a freak crash at the last race in Halifax, Canada, but have regrouped and are now on a mission in Portsmouth this weekend, in front of 20,000 home supporters. A stellar start to the season has been followed by a slight slump, leaving them level on points with second-placed Los Gallos, from Spain, but a grand final appearance at the end of season is still on the cards.

Mills said: It was obviously a tough day in Halifax with some damage during the race. A lot of frustration from everyone. But ultimately, it's important for individuals and teams to let that out, have those moments of just being frustrated or whatever the feelings are, and then it's all about how quickly we can come back together.

Not that long after we got off the water, we came together as a team, we talked about it, we evaluated it and got everyone back on the same page. Since then, we've been building on the learnings and focusing on this event.

In SailGP, boats exceed 100km/h in close to shore, stadium racing. EGBR are reigning world champions - and will be looking to get a home win in front of a sold-out crowd. The team finished second in Portsmouths debut on the SailGP circuit last year and are targeting the top step this time around to move closer to the Grand Final later this year.

Mills, a double Olympics champion in the womens 470 event in 2016 and 2020, has enjoyed a glittering career, but a win in Portsmouth would be among her finest achievements.

[Presenter David Garrido speaks with Hannah Mills, strategist of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, and Dylan Fletcher, driver of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, during the pre-event press conference in the Adrenaline Lounge ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth]

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Presenter David Garrido speaks with Hannah Mills, strategist of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, and Dylan Fletcher, driver of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, during the pre-event press conference in the Adrenaline Lounge ahead of the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth(Image: Jason Ludlow for SailGP)

The 38-year-old said: I think it would be up there. Nothing can compare with racing in front of a home crowd, let alone winning in front of a home crowd, so yeah, it'll be interesting. Hopefully we'll get to find out on Sunday.

This is one of the longer races we have in SailGP which is nice. Particularly for me as a strategist, it gives me a little bit more time to get your head out and to do a bit more boat on boat strategical decisions.

Fletcher, the teams driver, was an Olympic gold medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Games in the mens 49er event, as well as the helm for INEOS Britannias Americas Cup tilt in 2024. And despite his experience, Emirates GBRs catamaran pitched forward into the water in relatively mild conditions in Halifax.

He said: It was a very unusual mistake for us, but it's sport and mistakes happen. You always must pick yourself up and move on. We felt as though we haven't delivered our best yet this season, so we're just really looking to build up from here to that grand final when we need to be at our very peak.

Its Australias Bonds Flying Roos who are leading the way following three wins on the bounce before Canada, but at the halfway point of the season, there are plenty of teams who will fancy their chances of reaching the Grand Final. That includes debutants Artemis, from Sweden, as well as the United States team, lurking just behind the Brits in fourth.

Fletcher said: We're racing against the world's best from several different classes, with gold medallists from different backgrounds. And what I love about the F50s, and SailGP is all the boats are identical. We have loads of data, but ultimately it comes down to sailor skill.

As with any event we want to win, but this is one we want to win most outside the Grand Final. But in reality, this is about the big picture building up through the season. There's lots of jeopardy. If we can just come away from the weekend feeling as though we've sailed well, then we'll be happy. But we also know if we sail well, we'll be at the top.

The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix returns to Portsmouth on 25-26 July. Limited tickets are still available via //SailGP.com/Portsmouth .

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