Meet the sailors and their boats and boards
Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, we take a closer look at the British sailors and windsurfers going for gold
This year's Games will not only see some new faces, but also some new classes on the water in Marseille.
Our fourteen-strong sailing squad includes an exciting blend of experienced Olympians and talented first timers, including returning Tokyo Olympic medalists Emma Wilson, John Gimson and Anna Burnet.
Great Britain is one of only three nations to have qualified an entry in all 10 disciplines, with kiteboarding (known as Formula Kite), and the iQFOiL foiling windsurfer both making their Olympic debuts. Along with the Nacra 17 foiling catamaran, this now means that five of the ten Olympic classes are now high-speed hydrofoilers.
Read on to meet the Team GB athletes and to find out more about the boats and boards you’ll see in action at the Games.
ILCA 7 – MICKY BECKETT
Formerly known as the Laser Standard, the popular ILCA 7 singlehanded dinghy has changed its name but remains as hard to hike and as physically demanding as ever. Like every other frontrunner in this tough fleet, Micky Beckett has emerged as the leading candidate from a world- class GBR squad overseen by long- serving coach Chris Gowers.
With numerous medals from recent years, including silvers at this year’s Worlds and last year’s Olympic Test Event in Marseille, the 29-year-old from Solva, Pembrokeshire is in the form of his life. Similar to the fierce Laser rivalry between Ben Ainslie and Brazil’s Robert Scheidt 25 years ago, this year’s Olympic contest is shaping up to be a continuation of friendly hostilities between Beckett and Matt Wearn, Australia’s reigning World and Olympic Champion.
ILCA 6 – HANNAH SNELLGROVE
Formerly known as the Laser Radial, the women’s single-hander is now officially the ILCA 6. Hannah Snellgrove has been working towards this Olympic moment for a long time. The 33-year-old first became part of the British Sailing Team in 2011 but was dropped in 2014. Refusing to give up on her Olympic dream, Snellgrove worked as a journalist and started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds to allow her to compete at an international level. In 2018 she rejoined the British Sailing Team - and the rest is history.
The Cambridge graduate and Lymington, Hampshire, resident has been troubled with injury throughout her career, with back problems severe enough to have coaxed most sailors into retirement. Against the odds, though, Snellgrove has kept the faith, working hard and clinching selection for Paris 2024 thanks to a 10th place at the 2024 Worlds in Argentina. In her life away from the water Snellgrove writes folk music, which she occasionally performs at festivals.
49er – JAMES PETERS & FYNN STERRITT
With all the foiling events now in the Olympic line-up, the 49er skiff is no longer one of the fastest classes. Even so, it’s still a handful to get around the course, requiring superhuman coordination between the helm and crew. James Peters is from Hayling Island in Hampshire and Fynn Sterritt from Kingussie in the Scottish Highlands, but they’ve been campaigning together in the 49er since 2014.
Ranked World No.1 for a period during 2018 and 2019, they pushed their rivals hard for Olympic selection but just missed out to Dylan Fletcher and Stu Bithell, who went on to clinch gold at Tokyo 2020. After taking a sabbatical from 49er campaigning, Peters and Sterritt got back on it in late 2021, working towards medal-potential ever since.
49erFX - FREYA BLACK & SASKIA TIDEY
This is the third time the 49erFX women’s skiff will have been at the Games and 30-year old Saskia Tidey will have competed at all three. The first time was for Ireland at Rio 2016, then with Charlotte Dobson for Great Britain at Tokyo 2020.
Dobson and Tidey led the Olympic regatta in Tokyo for the first half of the competition before fading in the lighter breeze to sixth place overall. Two years ago, she teamed up with 23-year-old Freya Black from Kent. This mix of youth and experience has put together some good results on the international circuit, including winning gold at Lanzarote International Regatta 2023 and coming fifth at the World Sailing Championships in the same year, which qualified them for Paris
NACRA 17 - JOHN GIMSON & ANNA BURNET
Since its Olympic debut for the Rio 2016 cycle, the Nacra 17 catamaran has been through an expensive evolutionary process and is now capable of consistent foiling upwind and downwind.
It’s a highly technical boat, which is why John Gimson and Anna Burnet are grateful for the coaching and mentoring input of long-time supporter Iain Percy, the three-time Olympic medallist and former America’s Cup skipper.
When Gimson and Burnet stood on the Tokyo 2020 podium to receive their Olympic silver medals they shared a kiss, revealing that they were more than just a good sailing partnership. Their goal is to win gold at Paris 2024, celebrating that golden moment, not just on the podium but a few weeks later at their wedding.
FORMULA KITE MEN – CONNOR BAINBRIDGE
Paris 2024 is the Olympic debut for kiteboarding. With the foiling Formula Kite athletes capable of pushing their boards close to 40knots this is arguably the fastest of all Olympic sports, on a par with, or faster than, track cycling.
Contrary to early predictions of kiters needing to be light, experience has proven that bigger, heavier athletes are better at harnessing the enormous power generated by the kites and the apparent wind they create. This is why 195cm (6ft 5in) tall and 102kg (16 stone) Connor Bainbridge is so well-suited to Formula Kite.
Bainbridge finished fifth at the last two European Championships. The 30-year-old had a difficult time coming back from injury in late 2022 but is starting to rediscover some of the form that made him a regular podium finisher a couple of seasons ago.
FORMULA KITE WOMEN – ELLIE ALDRIDGE
Ellie Aldridge is one of the graduates from the RYA’s #Kite4Gold programme, which was launched in 2018 to uncover talent for the new Olympic discipline. Aldridge, from Poole in Dorset, had already achieved success at youth level in dinghies such as the 29er skiff but had never tried kiting before.
Despite her lack of experience on the board, the 27-year-old proved remarkably adaptable and has gone on to win numerous medals at world level, standing on the podium of the last three World Championships including winning silver in 2023.
Having beaten her teammates to the Olympic berth, Aldridge was delighted to find that Lily Young,
Katie Dabson and Maddie Anderson were all prepared to keep pushing hard to work with their friend and give her the best possible build-up towards her first Games.
IQFOIL MEN – SAM SILLS
A foiling board capable of travelling at more than 30 knots, the iQFOiL windsurfer makes its Olympic debut at Paris 2024. Like the Formula Kites, the riders have discovered that being heavy equates to higher speed. The 31-year-old Sam Sills reckons he has found his sweet spot at around 95kg (15 stone) in weight.
For many years the Cornish windsurfer ran his Olympic campaign alongside his business working in sustainable electric marine technology and windsurfing, paddleboard and hydrofoil design. But at the start of 2023 he decided to focus on his Olympic campaign and was rewarded with a number of good results including gold at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía 2023, second at the Lanzarote IQ Games, third at Lanzarote international regatta, and fifth at the Worlds in 2022.
IQFOIL WOMEN - EMMA WILSON
Having won Olympic bronze at Tokyo 2020 following a successful career on the RS:X windsurfer, like many of her friends and rivals on the international circuit Emma Wilson worked to adapt as quickly as possible to the different demands of the iQFOiL windsurfer. Many of the RS:X competitors struggled to make a successful transition, but not Wilson, who has been one of the most consistent performers over the past two seasons.
The 25-year-old has made it to numerous three-board finals where at least a medal of some colour is guaranteed. Like Sills in the men’s fleet, Wilson has been working hard on the different set of skills and mindset required for sudden death competition on the final day.
Predicting winners in the iQFOiL has proven notoriously difficult, but Wilson is certainly in the medal zone.
Find out more
The Olympic sailing events will take place from 28 July to 8 August and will be aired on Discovery+.
For more information about the Games and all the latest news, visit our Paris 2024 hub.
Our Olympic preview was first published in the summer 2024 edition of RYA magazine.