- Multi-year partnership formalises and expands two seasons of work with Sir Ben Ainslie’s championship-winning Emirates GBR team
- First of its kind flagship masterclass programme translates elite performance lessons for leaders and teams
Mindflick today announces a multi-year partnership with Emirates GBR, becoming the team’s Official Performance Mindset Partner and an Official Supplier through the end of 2029.
The announcement reveals the work behind one of British sport's standout seasons. Across the past two seasons, including their historic 2025 SailGP season, Mindflick's performance psychometric platform helped power Emirates GBR to the Rolex SailGP Season Championship, sealed with a dramatic Grand Final win in Abu Dhabi, alongside back-to-back victory in the Impact League.
Running until the end of 2029, the multi-year partnership will see Mindflick support the Emirates GBR race team and wider support staff, giving athletes and staff alike a shared language and practical tools for how they think, communicate and perform under pressure.
A flagship masterclass programme
For the first time, an elite sailing team in Sail GP is partnering with performance psychologists to turn its high-pressure performance methods into a format built for the workplace.
Alongside the platform, the partnership marks the launch of a flagship masterclass programme, co-created and delivered by Mindflick and Emirates GBR. Drawing on the team’s own experience, race footage and Mindflick’s UK-leading performance psychology expertise, the masterclass reveals how an elite sailing team builds trust, stays aligned when a race turns in an instant, and turns experience into practical insights that leaders and teams can apply in business and sport.
Sir Ben Ainslie, CEO of Athena Sports Group, says: “We’re competing at the very highest level of sailing. The technical side demands a huge amount of effort, focus and investment, but the human side is equally as important. It’s an area that is critical to the overall performance of the team.
“We turned to Mindflick for much more in-depth support — not just for our athletes, but for our coaches and the wider support team — to help us deal with the demands of competing at the highest level in SailGP and the America’s Cup. Since starting that relationship, we haven’t looked back.
“Before Mindflick, we were often reactive. Now, we’re much better prepared for the different scenarios and challenges that come with competing at this level. It means that when obstacles come our way, we’re ready to tackle them together and keep performing.”
Often described as ‘Formula One on the water’, SailGP compresses complex team decisions into seconds, making trust, communication and adaptability highly visible.
Dr Mark Bawden, CEO and co-founder of Mindflick, says: "We have spent two seasons inside one of the most demanding team environments in sport, watching how Emirates GBR make fast, high-quality decisions when the margins are tiny. What holds up under that kind of pressure is rarely talent on its own. It is how well people read each other, stay aligned and adapt in the moment. That is exactly what Mindflick is designed to make visible and actionable.
"This partnership lets us embed that work right across the team, from the athletes on the water to the staff supporting them, and keep building on it through to 2029. In sport, adaptability separates good teams from winning ones, and in business the same principle applies. This is performance psychology where it belongs, in the moments that matter, not in a binder on a shelf."