Interview with Hannah Mills
by Mark Jardine 6 Oct 04:00 PDT
Athena Pathway Skipper and CEO Hannah Mills © Athena Pathway
I had a conversation with Hannah Mills in Barcelona before the 37th America’s Cup to learn more about the Athena Pathway, the PUIG Women’s America’s Cup, her experience assembling the team, and her thoughts on sailing an AC40.
Mark Jardine: Hannah, to begin with, the Athena Pathway has created a significant opportunity for youth and women’s sailing. However, establishing this initiative hasn’t been straightforward.
Hannah Mills: When the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup events were announced in late 2021, Ben [Ainslie] and I discussed what we could do, and it seemed like a great opportunity, especially in the UK, to use it as a foundation to build a pathway. It’s not just about inspiring the next generation of sailors in foiling, or providing opportunities and experiences for women—who have already accomplished much in the sport—to engage in this type of sailing, but also about the shore side. We wanted to ensure there’s a pathway for women into the shore side of sailing.
An essential aspect of this is related to engineering and STEM, as these boats require a vast team of engineers to operate. We want young individuals to choose STEM subjects, become engineers, and acknowledge the exciting possibilities in sports. Additionally, addressing climate change will require engineers for the multitude of challenges we face, which connects to our initiative.
Mark: Your and Ben’s passion for the sport’s future has driven this initiative, but you’ve also received support from various sources.
Hannah: Absolutely. We enjoy considerable commercial support and private investments, but it’s more than just financial backing. Many individuals contribute their time and expertise to enhance the initiative. We’ve teamed up with the Andrew Simpson Foundation in Weymouth to connect our efforts, as they run a fantastic program in the UK’s foiling hub. It’s a wonderful opportunity to hold our WASZP camps there, allowing young people and women to experience foiling and hopefully ignite their excitement.
Recently, we collaborated with the Greig Academy, an inner-city school in London, led by the passionate Jon Holt, who has established a sailing program for the students. It’s been operational for about eight years and has seen incredible talents emerge. Partnering with them to create career opportunities in the sport for those sailors is a real honor.
Additionally, we have Kai Hockley here, a prominent ILCA talent who has joined our GP team. He has been with us for the past few weeks, embarking on a year-long apprenticeship with the Athena group’s various teams. He’s an outstanding sailor but has also engaged in shore-side activities. He represents the first of our school partnerships aimed at promoting diversity and opportunities within our sport.
Mark: Kai isn’t the only one, though. The diversity of individuals you’ve assembled for both the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup campaigns is impressive, both onshore and among sailors. From a management perspective, how have you integrated everyone?
Hannah: That has been one of the most challenging aspects I’ve faced. You can never predict what you’re signing up for when you embark on something like this for the first time. I am incredibly proud of our team and the efforts everyone has invested to give us the best chance to succeed on the water. We have an exceptionally diverse group, both in terms of backgrounds and experience levels.
We also achieved a gender-balanced team, which I’m very proud of. For me, it’s about setting new standards for what is possible and ensuring we create an environment where everyone can excel; that’s not always simple, but we’ve made considerable progress and learned numerous lessons.
Mark: One of the participants in the trials is Saskia [Clark], so you’ve reunited your former 470 team.
Hannah: Yes, she did! I initially wasn’t sure if she would want to participate, but when I invited her to try the simulator to gauge her interest over a year ago, she loved it; having her back has been fantastic. She’s an incredible team player, full of energy, experience, and always brings great vibes. It’s wonderful to have her as a core member of the team and to be back on the water together.
Mark: The Women’s America’s Cup is generating excitement, especially with the AC40, which is like a go-kart compared to a Bentley—a real visual spectacle.
Hannah: Yes, the boat is outstanding. Sailing it is such a privilege; it’s incredible. I feel fortunate each time I’m on the water, and the overall racing level should be impressive. It’ll be intriguing to see how the various teams perform. One side consists of Cup teams that have had extensive experience in the boats, while the other comprises nations not affiliated with a Cup team.
Artemis has put together a comprehensive campaign around this with a boat, making them formidable. As for the other teams, they’ll face challenges because while they’ve honed their skills in the simulator, nothing can truly replace the experience of being on the boat and managing the pressure of racing an AC40.
Mark: The 470 is a finely tuned vessel, and you’re familiar with achieving the right mode at the right times; the AC40 demands the same level of precision but on an entirely different platform! How have you adapted to identifying which settings yield speed at which moments?
Hannah: The 470 is indeed very sensitive, but by the end of your time with it, you can sail it almost instinctively. That’s what I’ve aimed for with the AC40—reaching that same intuitive mastery in a short timeframe. We may never fully attain that, but the more time spent sailing the boat, the quicker we will be able to troubleshoot when it’s not performing its best and make necessary adjustments to regain speed. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much it feels like a dinghy; the feedback through the steering, the foil arm in the water, and the adjustments you make are remarkably similar, which has been a joyful experience.
Mark: Lastly, a particularly strange predicament for conventional sailors is navigating through your wind shadow after rounding the windward mark: rediscovering your own upwind wind shadow. It’s quite mind-bending. How do you handle that? Can you visualize those points along the course?
Hannah: It presents a significant challenge for all teams, especially since we haven’t had much experience in a fleet setting. It’s a steep learning curve for everyone. That wind shadow is substantial. Navigating through your dirty wind and its resulting vortex is no easy feat. Watching it on television, one might think, “What’s going on?”, but the reality is quite complex. There will be plenty of lessons learned quickly regarding what to avoid.
