LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's SailGP team have been busy rehearsing scenarios for the three-way grand final race, said their strategist Hannah Mills, in the run-up to the event this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
But the crew, who top the championship leaderboard going into the last event of SailGP's 2025 season, are not taking anything for granted in their quest to first make it to and then win the $2 million three-boat grand final.
"Whilst we've got a bit of a buffer to fourth (position), we still have to get a point and we still can't get damage points," Mills told Reuters in a recent interview in London.
"There still feels like a lot of pressure just to make sure we make the final, which I think is a good place to be in. You want to feel that pressure," said Mills, who won two golds and a silver as a British Olympic sailor in the 470 dinghy.
"So, we're going to come out fighting from the off, and if it goes badly in those first few races then you can only learn and hopefully be better for the final," said Mills.
"And if it goes well, then you just try and keep that momentum," added the 37-year-old, whose role involves making key calls on tactics and conditions aboard the team's F50 catamaran, which is helmed by fellow former Olympian Dylan Fletcher.
Mills said the crew had been watching videos of the three teams they were likely to face in the grand final, Australia, New Zealand and Spain, who are lying in fourth overall on points, and talking through options and all the set plays.
"There are usually two, maybe three options, and ... there's always facts and information about the wind and all sorts (of things) that are kind of slightly changing those," said Mills, who won her Olympic golds in Rio and Tokyo.
"The more you can talk about it and align everyone on the likely scenarios, the more likely you do them when the pressure's on," said Mills, acknowledging that a three-boat race is particularly tough to plan a strategy for.
"It is very difficult because there's always one that gets away. But I guess that's what keeps it interesting," she said, adding that quick decisions and clear communications are key.
Support from Britain's Ben Ainslie, the team's founder, co-owner and CEO, has also helped Mills and the crew get to the brink of a shot at the SailGP silverware.
"It's obviously amazing having Ben there in the background ... just to talk through the sailing and just have a chat at the end of the day about what's gone on," Mills said.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Ken Ferris)
