This article marks the beginning of a series exploring Women in SailGP. The second instalment will focus on the 2025 Breaking Boundaries event, hosted by SailGP in partnership with Yachting New Zealand and the Royal Akarana Yacht Club. This event will feature insights from SailGP’s female athletes—Martine Grael, Liv Mackay, and Katja Salskov-Iversen—who will share their experiences and achievements. Stay tuned as we celebrate their remarkable careers and examine the growing opportunities for women in high-performance sport.
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In this feature, we hear from two exceptional strategists—New Zealand’s own Liv Mackay, representing the Black Foils, and Hannah Mills, with the GBR team. Both share their early experiences with the Auckland leg of the series, shedding light on the challenges and excitement of racing in New Zealand’s unique waters.
Through their insights, we explore not only the technicalities of navigating these advanced F50s but also the broader conversation around women’s roles in sailing. Liv reflects on her journey from Napier Sailing Club to international competition, while Hannah discusses the significance of representation and the future of equality in the sport.
Their perspectives provide a dynamic snapshot of the SailGP series, blending personal aspirations with the collaborative spirit of a sport striving for progress. Let’s dive into their interviews to better understand what it means to race at the forefront of modern sailing.
Time was limited which meant all interviews were performed in huddles. A range of valid interesting questions were asked which reflected on sailing on Auckland’s waters, and being a woman in SailGP.
Liv Mackay: strategist, Black Foils SailGP team
Liv Mackay’s journey into sailing began as a family activity at the Napier Sailing Club, where she developed a passion for the sport and built lasting friendships. Throughout her career, Mackay has achieved significant milestones. She has been instrumental in the New Zealand SailGP Team’s successes, contributing to their victories in various events. Her dedication and skill were recognised when she was named Strategist of the Season (season 4) in SailGP’s fan-voted awards.
Beyond her role in SailGP, Mackay has been a trailblazer in women’s sailing. A talented sailor with a strong foundation in competitive racing, Mackay has emerged as one of the standout athletes in the world of sailing, particularly in the Nacra 17 class, where she has proven her mettle on the international stage. She co-helmed the Emirates Team New Zealand crew in the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona, marking a historic moment in the sport. Her involvement in this event underscores her commitment to advancing women’s participation in competitive sailing.
Mackay’s contributions extend off the water as well. She is a proud ocean champion, representing Live Ocean on the world stage, and has been involved in initiatives aimed at promoting sustainability and environmental awareness within the sailing community.
Her journey from recreational sailing to becoming a key figure in international competitions highlights her determination and passion for the sport. Mackay continues to inspire many, particularly young women, to pursue careers in sailing and strive for excellence.
On training and sailing conditions
Liv Mackay: “We’ve had an awesome week so far. We’ve gone out for two sessions, [with] our longest sail we’ve ever had yesterday. It’s been absolutely amazing!
“It’s been a windy south-wester here in Auckland all summer and we’ve had those conditions so far, but it’s set to change for the coming days. [We’re] trying to switch into that race mode and that Nor’east direction.”
On adapting to T-foils
Liv Mackay: “It’s super exciting to have the T-foils on board now. It’s definitely different for everyone on board, and for me–as a strategist–the speed is probably the main factor. We’re looking at [an] 11 to 12 boat fleet, so obviously the interactions are happening faster. Everything is slightly more intense. [I’m] just making sure that I’m on top of that; We are going faster and it’s just more important to stay further up the race course ahead of [ the fleet].”
On local advantage and experience
Liv Mackay: “Of course we have an advantage, with the fans and everything. There’s an amazing energy here so the team’s definitely making the most of that. Course-wise and on the water, I personally haven’t done [a lot of] sailing here [in Auckland] so that’s a different dynamic. We’ve been leaning on locals who have; and of course we’ll use that as much as we can but I think for anyone sailing the F50s here this weekend, it’s going to be a new dynamic.”
On career progression
Liv Mackay: “I’ve been thinking about this recently. [I’ve] just been down at home over Christmas. Even when I was 17 and 18 [years old] I never thought I would be where I am today. SailGP wasn’t a thing back then either so to even envision a circuit like this in sailing is absolutely incredible and the more I do on the boats, the more I can’t get enough of it. I’m excited to see where it goes.”
On women’s participation in SailGP
Liv Mackay: “The SailGP [organisation] has done an incredible job to really elevate our sport and the women’s side. There’s so much further to go and you can see that we’ve got incredible female athletes here, but there are still only one on board each team so there’s still a long way to go. My team’s doing an incredible job driving, [and] I see SailGP really kick started something. You’ve seen the effects last year of having the women sailing the AC40. [It] was a big step forward but I think we really need to keep pushing. The Dubai training camp was a huge step forward and just talking to the women here this morning, everyone’s really excited for the rest of the season and for more.
“I absolutely love being with the guys. I believe I just want to be at the top level of the sport. I don’t see there should be segregation there; I think it just should be equal experience given. The best sailors should get on board. For me that’s giving younger girls the opportunity to get the experience early and then given the chance. The guys often just get thrown in the deep end and don’t get nursed along. I really want the same to happen for women; to just get embraced and given the opportunity to take it on.”
On evolving from strategist to driver
Liv Mackay: “I’d love to helm one day, I’ve been spending a bit of time on the helm with Pete on strategy which was super cool. I definitely think anything can happen in SailGP; it’s a very intense, high-paced sport, [which can mean] injuries or sickness. We travel a lot, so we’re really trying to make our team really solid and I’ve really been taking interest in helming; we’ll see where it leads.”
On support from family and friends
Liv Mackay: “I have a lot of friends and family coming this weekend which is super exciting. Christchurch [over] the last two years has been absolutely incredible and a lot of people have come down for that; but here, this week, with us training from Monday, the anticipation has really started to build. A lot of people have been messaging, and just visually being able to see the boats out there has really brought a whole other energy to it. I really can’t wait for the weekend.”
On plans for the next few days
Liv Mackay: “Today we’re getting into some practice racing. It’s a shift from the last few days where we were learning about the T-foils and how that changes the boat; how do we race with them given the difference in speeds and also given it’s the tightest race course we’re really going to be sailing on in the season? [It] is really intense and I think today’s starting off with lighter [winds] but leading into the weekend, it’s just going to get windier and windier, but the same direction so I think we’re going to learn a lot.”
Hannah Mills: strategist, Great Britain’s SailGP team
Hannah Mills OBE, grew up in Cardiff, Wales, and is a distinguished British sailor renowned for her exceptional achievements in the sport. She is the most successful female sailor in Olympic history, having secured two gold medals and one silver in the Women’s 470 class. Mills clinched silver at the London 2012 Olympics with partner Saskia Clark, followed by gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics with Clark, and another gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics alongside Eilidh McIntyre.
Beyond her Olympic triumphs, Mills serves as the on-board strategist for the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team. In this role, she combines her extensive sailing expertise with engineering knowledge to make critical tactical decisions during high-speed races.
In 2022, Hannah co-founded the Athena Pathway program with Ben Ainslie (CEO of the Great Britain SailGP team), aiming to fast-track development for female and youth sailors. The Athena Pathway team competed in the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup, with Mills at the helm.
Mills’s contributions to sailing and the environment have been recognised with several honours. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours and later elevated to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours.
On a personal note, Hannah is married to windsurfer Nick Dempsey, with whom she has a two-year old daughter, Sienna.
Mills continues to be a driving force in sailing, both competitively and through her initiatives to promote gender equity and sustainability within the sport.
On first Impressions of Auckland
Hannah Mills: “It’s my first time on the water [here in Auckland]; having heard so much about it for so long, seeing it on TV and sailing it, it’s just so comforting and having amazing visuals and seeing it on the beach, the super light water, and [the] really good breezes, it’s been amazing.”
On adapting to T-Foils
Hannah Mills: “We’ve not been on the race course we’re going to race on yet; I think today might be the first day just seeing what that’s like but it looks pretty small, especially with the new T-foils there’s going to be a lot going on if we’re still learning. The boats are a lot more unstable than they would have been if we were still on the L-foils, just because no one’s used them before really so that’ll add an extra layer of carnage I think but the race is going to be super tight. Just buzzing to get going.”
On representation, going beyond the norm, and gender equity
Hannah Mills: “I just think for our sport as a whole it’s so important to see representation.
“We’ve got the first female driver in SailGP which is massive. We’re striving for equality across SailGP and equity, so this is just a huge step.
“Being a part of the Women’s Pathway program and seeing the progression of that, and seeing more women come into different roles on the boat, I think it’s all just super positive.
“For me, it’s just any person coming in and doing a [driver] role, the expectation and pressure, and I know there’s a lot of pressure on Martine because she wants to do well, and that’s amazing but I just think that you can’t expect anyone to come in and smash it straight away.
“These boats are really hard to sail; the standard is incredibly high and so I just think you have to be careful adding too much pressure by giv[ing] everyone the time to come in and learn, and progress. [I’m] just excited to see how [Martine] gets on.
“I definitely see a day where there’ll be 50-50 equality on the boats. I think that’d be amazing, [but] I think it depends what the league wants to do. I would never say never because it’s happened elsewhere. My drive and passion is very much about equality and showing our sport that men and women can compete together and race together and be really competitive. Showing the world that men and women are sailing together is really powerful. For me that’s really important and that’s why I think SailGP can really strive to show.
“I still think we’re at a stage we’ve still got a long way to go in many respects to focus on equality, in all areas of life. I think it’s still really important to talk about it, and I think it’s really important to show young girls and boys that things are changing and there is progress. That is an important part of what we do as athletes is to talk about the things that matter and impact other people’s lives as well.”
On being a parent and that ever-important work-life balance
Hannah Mills: “I learnt to sail on a tiny little reservoir in Cardiff just having a lot of fun with mates. What the UK does really well is this really clear pathway if you get sailing, and then you get into racing. To progress through, even though my parents weren’t sailors, it was relatively clear what I had to do and so I think from a really young age I was super goal-orientated and wanted to do well, and so to see that pathway was really really powerful. I think for any young person coming into sport whether it’s just for fun or if you want to do it to a really high level then being able to see how you get somewhere is a really important part of that.
“I look back and I just think how did [my parents] do what they did? I’m a mum now to a two year old and yeah it definitely gives you a whole new level of respect for what they did for me; they just facilitated and we had a really good network of other parents around Cardiff with kids that were into sailing. There was a lot of shared transport and just making it possible for each other; I look back and I’m very very humbled by what they did for me.
“There’s lots [of sailors I’ve looked up to] but definitely over the last three or four years it’s been Ben Ainslie there’s so many different aspects coming out of Olympic sailing, coming into SailGP with the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup and the projects we’ve worked on there. Me having a baby and the support with all of that; I think without Ben’s support and backing it would have been really really a different story.
“My two-year-old, she, comes to most events. She’s not here [in Auckland] but we lived in Barcelona for seven months last summer and will move around with most SailGP events. My husband Nick and [baby] Sienna come along which was always a part of the reason. It allows me to do this; without that it would be really, really challenging.
“There [are plenty of other parents sailing in SailGP and] it’s growing, which is cool. There’s two other [mothers] and maybe a couple of new ones coming, and lots of new dads actually. A lot of the guys have had kids quite recently as well. The SailGP family is growing.”
Moving forward
The experiences shared by Liv Mackay and Hannah Mills highlight SailGP’s remarkable evolution as both a sporting spectacle and a platform for progressive change. At its core, the league embodies high-speed innovation and fierce competition, but its commitment to broader issues—gender equity, work-life balance, and inclusivity—sets it apart.
Mackay’s reflections on the need to embrace young female sailors and provide them with equal opportunities underscore an urgent call for action. By fostering an environment where talent, not gender, dictates participation, SailGP is beginning to redefine the boundaries of professional sailing. Meanwhile, Mills’s involvement in initiatives like the Women’s Pathway Program exemplifies the tangible steps being taken to ensure a sustainable pipeline of female talent in leadership and technical roles.
Yet, the journey is far from over. Both athletes acknowledge the progress made while stressing the importance of maintaining momentum. From integrating women into key roles on F50s to the unprecedented addition of a female driver, SailGP is creating ripples of change in a traditionally male-dominated sport. However, as they both acknowledge, true equity will require sustained efforts to normalise women’s presence at the highest levels of competition.
Beyond equity, the athletes’ personal stories reflect the delicate balance of professional ambition and personal fulfillment. Mills’s dual roles as an elite sailor and a mother, and Mackay’s grounding in her Napier roots, are reminders of the importance of a holistic approach to life in high-performance environments. Their achievements highlight that work-life balance is not just a personal aspiration but a cornerstone of sustained excellence.
Finally, as SailGP grows its global footprint, its mission to inspire the next generation and embrace diversity takes on new significance. The introduction of innovations like T-foils, the intensifying competition, and the league’s ambitious goals for sustainability and inclusivity all speak to a sport that is as forward-thinking as it is thrilling.
By pushing boundaries on and off the water, Liv Mackay, Hannah Mills, and their SailGP peers are charting a course for a future where sailing is not only faster and more competitive but also more equitable, balanced, and inclusive. Their journeys highlight the transformative impact of sport and its potential to inspire a brighter future.
