Dylan Fletcher MBE, Driver of the Emirates GBR SailGP Team and Helm for the GB1 America’s Cup Team, said losing his SailGP seat back in 2019 gave him “siege mentality” to go for gold and “prove everyone wrong”. Speaking to Georgie Ainslie on the Performance People Podcast, in partnership with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Fletcher pinpointed the moment he was ousted from the British SailGP Team in Season 1 as the “defining moment” of his career.
After losing his role as Driver for the team, when Sir Ben Ainslie bought the British franchise and became Driver himself, Fletcher went on to win Olympic gold in the 49er at Tokyo 2020, become Co-Helm alongside Ainslie for the British America’s Cup team in 2024, and then become SailGP 2025 Season Champion after Ainslie made Fletcher Driver of his Emirates GBR SailGP Team for the global racing championship’s fifth season.
Fletcher described it as an “unbelievable journey” that “feels like a whirlwind”.
Rewinding back to the moment he learned he would be losing his place in SailGP, Fletcher said that rather than dwelling on the loss, he and his SailGP teammate at the time, Stu Bithell, decided to “crack on” and work towards winning an Olympic gold medal together.
“I guess we had a bit of siege mentality between the two of us to just get together and crack on,” he said.
“It took a lot of resilience, to keep pushing on, and it certainly added a lot of fuel to the fire inside the belly of wanting to get back and prove everyone wrong.”
The pair succeeded in their mission, by becoming Olympic champions at the Tokyo Games, and more recently reinstating their places in the British SailGP Team. After Fletcher joined Sir Ben’s Emirates GBR SailGP Team in November 2024 for the 2025 Season, Bithell came on-board earlier this month for the 2026 Season. The debut event of the season in Perth, Western Australia, on 17/18 January, was the first time Fletcher and Bithell had sailed together since their Olympic victory, and they managed to get straight back into their winning ways by coming out on top down under.
Just a few days after the SailGP season opener win, Fletcher was named as Helm for GB1, the British America’s Cup Team representing the Challenger of Record, Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd, for the 38th America’s Cup in Naples in 2027. It will be his second America’s Cup campaign, after Co-Helming alongside Sir Ben Ainslie for the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, which was the most successful British entry for 90 years after winning the Louis Vuitton Cup and making it to the America’s Cup Match.
Fletcher said it was “a lifelong dream” to be helming an America’s Cup Team in the Match alongside Sir Ben.
“I remember being 15 and getting my buoyancy aid signed by him at the boat show,” he said.
“And then I was sailing alongside him, and we obviously had a very successful campaign so I felt very lucky and privileged to have that opportunity, and now it feels like this is the start of a long road for the America’s Cup with some consistency, so I’m very excited for what’s to come.”
Listen to the full episode by searching Performance People on your chosen podcast platform. You can also watch Georgie and Dylan in conversation on the Performance People YouTube channel.
