ALL PHOTOS:NICK DEMPSEY PHOTOGRAPHY
happily agreed! She may be young, but
she has plenty of experience behind her
and has already been immersed in the
Olympic Games environment. Being the
perfect size for a 470 crew, Eilidh has
achieved some brilliant results already- I think we make a fantastic team.
Partnering with someone new has
taught me a lot about Eilidh, about
myself and about what it takes to build
and develop a working partnership. I
know that I can’t just ‘copy and paste’
what Saskia and I did at Rio for Tokyo
2020 and expect to win. Firstly, the fleet
will have moved on – it will be a whole
lot harder out there! Plus Eilidh and
Saskia are not the same person – Eilidh
will have different needs and wants
that, in turn, will enable her to become
the best crew member and teammate
she possibly can be. It’s important that
I now adapt the approach I had to my
partnership with Saskia to suit Eilidh.
NEW APPROACHES
This new partnership isn’t all that has
changed for this Olympic campaign; I
now have a new coach – Elliot Willis.
He was the obvious choice for myself
and Eilidh. Joe Glanfield, my coach
for both London 2012 and Rio 2016,
had gone in a new direction, wanting
to do some of his own sailing – quite
understandably! Elliot is a phenomenal
470 crew member with incredible
technical knowledge and the ability to
explain the feel of a boat like no one else.
I am learning to approach my sailing
in a completely different way, becomingmore aware of the feedback I’m getting
from the boat and what that could mean
for the set-up. Elliot has also helped
me take a different approach to certain
conditions and his coaching has really
helped me to develop my skills. I look
forward to seeing how much further
we can progress with his guidance.
Typically, new working relationships
bring with them challenges and
difficulties, but honestly, so far so good
in this case. Of course, it’s still reallyearly days – as I write this, Eilidh and I
have only done a total of four weeks in
the boat together and only three weeks
with Elliot. Interestingly though, we’ve
done some character and personality
questionnaires to learn more about each
other with the aim of fast tracking the
three-way partnership. Eilidh and Elliot
were almost complete opposites on the
test in terms of personality and I’ll be
intrigued to see how things play out. I
actually sit in between them both which
is a great strength, because it means we
have all areas covered within the team.
I’m positive that these new relationships
are going to be hugely successful.TOWARDS TOKYO
Now my new working relationships are
established, it’s time to start looking
ahead to Tokyo 2020. Qualification
will start in early 2019 – we’re not yet
sure which events will be included.
The next year will be about ensuring
our teamwork and foundations are
strong, making sure we’re on top of
our equipment, narrowing down the
options for the Games, learning about
the venue and understanding what
will be required to win in 2020.
As far as training goes, we have a
very busy year coming up. Having just
flown back from Miami, we are now
getting stuck into preparing our new
boat – which has just arrived from
New Zealand – for Cadiz. Competing
in Palma, Hyères, Bulgaria, Marseille,
Aarhus and Tokyo will take us up to
September and from then on in, it’s notI can’t just
‘copy and paste’
what Saskia and
I did in Rio for
Tokyo 2020 and
expect to win
FEATURE HANNAH MILLS
Above
Hannah, training
with Eilidh, and
getting a fresh
perspectiveTOP TIPS: NEW TEAMS
For any readers starting out on a new partnership
this year, I would say be open-minded and accept
that there will be things to iron out. Nothing will be
perfect straight away – expectations might be different
in terms of how each of you operates. Personally, I
think it’s really important to establish a common set
of values and rules you work by – this will really help
to reduce any frustration or misalignment of goals.
It’s crucial that you don’t just expect it to be the same
as your previous partnership – this might sound blindingly
obvious, but it’s so important to realise that whoever your
new partner is, they will have different needs, goals and
ideas compared with those of your former partner. Even
if your previous partnership was successful, don’t be blind
to the exciting elements this new person could bring.
Alternatively, if your previous partnership wasn’t so
effective, try and understand why this was the case
and which behaviours need to change for the new
partnership to stand a chance. You have got to achieve
that balance between reflecting on the past, adapting
to changes in the present and preparing for the future.April 2018 Yachts & Yachting 31