2020 Olympic gold medallist in the 49er and 2022 Moth World Champion, Dylan Fletcher MBE co-helmed the British team to win the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2024 taking the crew into the America’s Cup match for the first time in 60 years. He steered the Emirates GBR F50 to win the 2025 overall Sail GP title. After finishing second at their ‘home’ regatta in Portsmouth, last year a result which turned their season around, this weekend Fletcher and the British team will be looking to go one better on the Solent. Sailorz caught up with him just as he finished a long two boat training and testing block in Cagliari with the GB1 Cup team.
What is it going to take to win in Portsmouth this weekend?
I think to win in Portsmouth, what we’ve been really focussing on is just actually delivering in each of our own areas. We know we don’t need to actually do anything excessive. We showed in New York that yes there were bits and bobs, but we were there or thereabouts with the Aussies who had a very good day. I think that maybe we were trying a little bit hard in Bermuda or Rio and needed to relax into it a little bit more. Ultimately, I think Portsmouth is a big point in our season. It’s a home event. We’re just over half way through the season and in the top three, and we really need to ensure that we start to deliver more consistently at the events, just like we did last year. I think there’s no doubt that the increased pressure and the fans will hopefully put us in good shape. I know last year Hannah (Mills) and I talked a lot about how we felt under a lot of pressure last year. We’d come off the back of a terrible series in America with three terrible events. We really felt like we needed to turn our season around and we did so in Portsmouth, even though we didn’t win (runner-up).
What’s your evaluation of the Sail GP fleet now?
I think it was very competitive. I think that there’s quite a mix between the teams. I think it’s had a bit of a shake-up since last year. You can see the Aussies have obviously done very well. Goobs (Iain Jensen, who was wing controller last year for the British team) has integrated well into that team. You can see they’ve taken part of our playbook and a few things that we’ve done. They’ve done that well. But then I also think that we’ve seen the Kiwis interestingly sort of crashing out. The Spanish seem to have stepped up. We’re probably not quite as consistent as we were. Last year it was the latter half of the season when I think you saw the big teams emerge especially ourselves, the Aussies and Kiwis, and really deliver some consistency through the back half of the season.
Is SailGP still complementary to the Cup, and how long will it continue to be so for you personally?
I think so. I think it feels like it’s good to get the racing in and be very sharp, and certainly the America’s Cup, we’re lucky enough that we get to do a lot of sailing with APP (Athena Perfomance Pathway, British Women’s and Youth teams for the Cup) and we do a lot of two boating with the AC40’s, and that really does push us and we get to do lots of handling and starting and racing, which is great, but having that fleet racing and being on the world stage and that pressure I think is really good. So I think they’re very complementary of each other, and I hope I’ll be doing both until until I get too old and no longer good enough or something like that. (laughs)
“GB1 is a lot more agile and efficient
than where we were last time”
Let’s talk about the America’s Cup, what about the first Preliminary Regatta last May in Cagliari?
I think that ultimately we were obviously all deeply frustrated with the result at the end (last, because of 5 DNS due to technical issues). I think there’s no hiding that. It was hard for the team having felt like we’d prepared well and felt like we’d really made the most of our time on the water. Given how few days we’d sailed compared to Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand, I thought that we were one of the teams who would have been fighting for that match race spot. And I think we demonstrated that, but ultimately we fell down when it came to reliability and no one was happy with that. But compared to where we were last time round after the preliminary regattas, where we did finish the races but we weren’t in a position to fight for the top three, it felt (in Cagliari) like a better position to be in fighting for the top three, but unfortunately missing races is due to reliability. We’ve got to work very hard to understand all the issues and try to make sure that we get that reliability sorted.
Where do you see GB1’s strength compared to where you were this time with Ineos last time?
I think the real strength of GB1 is how it feels a lot more agile and efficient than where we were last time. There’s some great learnings that we took, especially from the F1 partnership, but then being able to be that bit more agile has been really appreciated. And just the way how fast the upgrades have been coming on the AC40 has been really good to see. And also the team spirit and the team vibe down in Portsmouth, it’s a bit smaller. Everyone knows a bit about everyone in everyone’s area, what’s going on, and it really feels like a bit more of a family and that community spirit. It feels quite different, but really positive. Sometimes being a bit more maybe ‘Team New Zealand-like’ with those efficiencies and where you’re choosing to spend your time, money and resource. We know we’re on the back foot on time on the water relative to the Kiwis and Luna Rossa by quite a significant margin. We’re trying, obviously, to get as much time as we can, but there’s no doubt that we’re a bit on the back foot. But that’s OK. I think that we’re all aware of that. Obviously, this is the first in hopefully a few America’s Cups every two years and the building blocks, but there’s no doubt that we’re here to try and win the America’s Cup next year.
“It has been an absolute whirlwind”
The conflict with Jim Ratcliffe rumbling on in the background, does that have any impact on you and the team?
Not personally. Ben’s handling all of that and I guess as far as from my point of view, that’s going on. We’ve got a great legal team and Ben can handle that and I’m just focused on trying to put GB1 in the best position possible next year to win the America’s Cup.
A word about your career: how did you manage to become one of the world’s leading specialists in high-speed foiling?
I joined the SailGP circuit during the first season [as a British F50 sailor, Ed], having previously competed in the 49er and Moth classes. I think I showed that I had some promise in it. But even though, obviously, I lost the job (steering) to Ben, which was very understandable, given why he wanted to take that on for the training for the Cup and everything. Then after that, the disappointment of losing SailGP to Ben, Stu (Bithell) and I just really went full on, full gas on showing what we could do, to go and win a gold medal, and see if that could land us in America’s Cup or SailGP job. Then, after much pestering, Ben let me have a sail in an AC40 in Palma and I did enough to, I guess, get a job as a reserve helm. It has been an unbelievable couple of years since then. It has been an absolute whirlwind. It feels like I’ve really ramped up my career. I’m not that young (38), but it feels like it’s been a very steep trajectory the last couple of years.
So when you were doing that Moth sailing, was that for the love of moth sailing, or were you thinking what might be the future for really high-level foiling skills?
Well it was for fun, yes, but It was always about the big picture of trying to get an America’s Cup job. It feels like the entry qualification at that time felt like a gold medal and a Moth world championship. I definitely think that that’s still there. I think you’ve seen Enzo Balanger. He’s been a bit of a talent that has been well coached and well looked after by the French. To see him go win the Moth worlds and be part of the America’s Cup team, the youth team, and now the America’s Cup team and Sail GP, it’s great to see that sort of progression.
Photo : Emirates GBR
