One of the World's Most Successful Female Sailors
Joining a sailing course at the age of eight when on a family holiday in Cornwall set Hannah Mills on her career path to become one of the world’s most successful female sailors.
“I loved being out on the water; the sense of freedom and the exposure to the elements was unbelievably breathtaking,” she recalls. “We went home to Cardiff, and I begged my parents to let me carry on sailing.”
She joined the Cardiff Sailing Centre at Llanishen reservoir, spent weekends on courses and ‘messing around in boats’, and soon got competitive. She sailed for the Welsh national squad, won the British Optimist Championship in 2001, and represented Great Britain at the 2002 and 2003 Optimist World Championship for 15 years and under.
“My goal in 2003 was to get the best ever British result at the world championships in Gran Canaria and I managed to do that in my final year in that class,” she says. “Boys and girls raced together at that age; I finished fifth overall and first girl.”
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That triumph was a ‘lightbulb moment’, she recalls: “It gave clarity that I could do this competitively as a career. I knew I wanted to go to the Olympics.”
Hannah went on to win three Olympic medals – silver from London 2012, gold from Rio and Tokyo – and two world championship titles.
After Tokyo she retired from Olympics sailing and joined the Emirates Great Britain SailGP team, competing in the global league which runs races in iconic locations around the world. She also launched, with Sir Ben Ainslie, the Athena Pathway programme to help fast-track development for female and young sailors. Helmed by Hannah, the Athena Pathway team competed in the first ever women’s America’s Cup, held in Barcelona in 2024.
“This was a pivotal moment in our sport, bringing in the next generation – especially female talent. The focus is also on the next generation of shoreside engineering roles. The fast-foiling boats that our sport is turning to require engineering experts to maintain and run; we felt that the sport was a powerful inspiration to drive career choices, and an opportunity to promote STEM subjects to young people choosing GCSE and A level options.”
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Hannah has used her platform to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean: “Training in Rio really opened my eyes to how bad the problem was. We launched the Big Plastic Pledge, trying to stop single-use plastic in sport.”
With rower Melissa Wilson, Hannah launched Athletes of the World, aiming to educate athletes about sustainability and the climate crisis and how to use their voices to talk about it. For COP 26 in Glasgow, they successfully united 50 athletes from all over the world to compile a video urging world leaders to take action on the climate crisis.
Hannah, now 37, is training with the Athena Pathway team for the next America’s Cup and will continue to complete in SailGP. “Experience is such a critical factor to be able to compete to a high level in sailing, so the average age in a lot of competitive sailing is older than you might think!”
She is also an enthusiastic participant in SailGP’s Impact League, which scores teams for projects in four focus areas – reducing carbon, reducing waste, women’s performance and DEI.
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Hannah lives in Poole Harbour and her relationship with the sea is clearly still at the heart of life: “Generally just being near the sea empties the mind and brings a sense of calm that can be hard to find elsewhere,” she says. “Being out on the water – it’s that ability to completely switch off from the world. I feel at one with the elements and nature.
“The whole of the maritime industry has a collective responsibility for looking after the ocean and ensuring that we are doing everything we can and pushing as hard as we can to get the right laws and protection in place to ensure that the generations to come are able to enjoy the ocean as we have been able to.”
Written by Felicity Landon
© Emilie Sandy Photography, 2025