Sarah Ayton

One of Britain’s most successful female sailors and two-times Olympic gold medalist, Sarah Ayton is also known as a dynamic and incredibly motivational after dinner speaker. Reflecting on her journey to Olympic success, Sarah influences audiences across the globe with her admirable story and determination to get to the top. Encouraged to adopt a resilient mindset by her parents from a young age, Ayton developed a no-compromise approach when it came to achieving her goals. By the age of 18, her determination took her to win silver for Team GB at the 1998 ISAF Youth World Championships.

Now a performance coach and personal trainer, Sarah Ayton’s career first gained wide-acclaim when she took the gold medal as part of the infamous “Three Blondes In A Boat” at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics in the Yngling sailing class. She went onto win gold at the 2007 Cascais and the 2008 Miami World Championships before securing first place at the 2008 Blanes European Championships. She again took Olympic gold at the 2008 Bejing Olympic Games in the Yngling class alongside Pippa Wilson and Sarah Webb.

Since her success, Sarah has gone from MBE to OBE status for her dedication to British sailing. She has also decided to put a pause on her Olympic career in order to focus on her two sons but remains tied to the event as she mentored Britain’s first time Olympians in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Most recently, Ayton has jumped into the world of Extreme Sailing Series. As the only woman in the series, she won the ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year award in 2015 which is the highest award a sailor can receive. She has also delved into the world of motivational speaking to influence audiences with her ‘can-do’ mindset. A favourite amongst corporate organisations, Sarah is known to make incredible changes within businesses of all sizes.