# Sarah Ayton > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sarah_Ayton > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sarah_Ayton.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Ayton > Source revision: 1303378764 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) British sailor (born 1980) Sarah Ayton OBE Personal information Born (1980-04-09) 9 April 1980 (age 46) Ashford, Surrey, England **Sarah Lianne Ayton** [OBE](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (born 9 April 1980 in [Ashford, Surrey](/source/Ashford%2C_Surrey)) is an English former professional [sailor](/source/Sailing_(sport)). She won a gold medal in the [Yngling](/source/Yngling_(keelboat)) sailing class in the [2004 Summer Olympics](/source/2004_Summer_Olympics) in Athens,[1] together with [Shirley Robertson](/source/Shirley_Robertson) and [Sarah Webb](/source/Sarah_Webb_(sailor)), and another gold medal in the Yngling sailing class in the [2008 Summer Olympics](/source/2008_Summer_Olympics) in Beijing, together with [Pippa Wilson](/source/Pippa_Wilson) and Sarah Webb. She retired from competitive sailing in 2011, citing the competing demands of motherhood.[2] In 2015 Ayton was the winner of the Female [World Sailor of the Year Awards](/source/World_Sailor_of_the_Year_Awards) – "the highest award a sailor can receive in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the world of sailing".[3][4] Having been appointed a [Member of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) in the [2005 New Year Honours](/source/2005_New_Year_Honours), Ayton was promoted to [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (OBE) in the [2009 New Year Honours](/source/2009_New_Year_Honours).[5][6] She was awarded an honorary MSc by the University of Chichester in 2009.[7]She is divorced from windsurfer [Nick Dempsey](/source/Nick_Dempsey). Together, they have two sons Thomas-Flynn, who was born on 28 June 2009 and Oscar-Flynn George who was born on 7 March 2012. Sarah married Ashley Harris 12 February 2022 Ayton is a patron of [Meningitis UK](/source/Meningitis_UK). Ayton battled with meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in 1995, when she was aged 14. In 2015 she visited Bosham sailing club, to present prizes at the racing prizegiving. She retains an active interest in sport, including amateur horse racing.[8] ## Footnotes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Sarah Ayton at Olympics.org.uk](https://web.archive.org/web/20040904165005/http://www.olympics.org.uk/athens/team_gb_cat.asp?AthleteID=69&AthleteID_Detail=69&SportNameId=17) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived 4 September 2004) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Double Olympic champion Sarah Ayton quits"](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/feb/16/sarah-ayton-olympic-champion-quits?CMP=gu_com). *The Guardian*. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Sarah Ayton World Sailor of the year"](https://www.extremesailingseries.com/news/view/sarah-ayton-world-sailor-of-the-year). *extremesailingseries.com*. Retrieved 2 December 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Sailing, saddling up and sacrifice"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/40750292). BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 December 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["New Year Honours--United Kingdom"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57509/supplement), *The London Gazette of Thursday 30 December 2004 Supplement No. 1*; accessed 28 August 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["No. 58929"](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58929/supplement/9). *[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)* (Supplement). 31 December 2008. p. 9. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Graduation"](https://www.chi.ac.uk/alumni/honorary-awards/). University of Chichester. Retrieved 24 May 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Sarah Ayton: Double Olympic sailing champion to ride amateur race at Goodwood"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/40750292). BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2017. ## External links - [Sarah Ayton](https://web.archive.org/web/20241130/https://www.sailing.org/sailor?ref=GBRSA16) at [World Sailing](/source/World_Sailing) (archived current website) - [Sarah Ayton](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://data-isaf.soticcloud.net/biog.php?memberid=57503) at [World Sailing](/source/World_Sailing) (archived former website) - [Sarah Ayton](https://www.olympics.com/en/athletes/sarah-ayton) at [Olympics.com](/source/International_Olympic_Committee) - [Sarah Ayton](https://www.teamgb.com/athletes/5Xo2EfbrRcVhpLi0A4FEVu) at [Team GB](/source/Team_GB) - [Sarah Ayton](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/103973) at [Olympedia](/source/Olympedia) v t e Olympic champions in Yngling 2004: Robertson, Webb, Ayton (GBR) 2008: Ayton, Webb, Wilson (GBR) v t e ISAF World Sailor of the Year (female) 1994: Zabell 1995: Autissier 1996: Lee 1997: Taran & Pakholchyk 1998: Brouwer 1999: Matthijsse 2000: Robertson 2001: MacArthur 2002: Bekatorou & Tsoulfa 2003: Sundby 2004: Bekatorou & Tsoulfa 2005: MacArthur 2006: Railey 2007: Leroy 2008: Sensini 2009: Tunnicliffe 2010: Manchón 2011: Tunnicliffe 2012: Xu 2013: Aleh & Powrie 2014: Grael & Kunze 2015: Ayton 2016: Mills & Clark 2017: Bouwmeester 2018: Brouwer & Riou 2019: Rindom 2020: not awarded 2021: Mills & McIntyre 2022: Banti 2023: Neuschäfer 2024: Bouwmeester This article about a United Kingdom Olympic medallist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:UK-Olympic-medalist-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUK-Olympic-medalist-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:UK-Olympic-medalist-stub) This biographical article related to sailing in United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:UK-sailing-bio-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUK-sailing-bio-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:UK-sailing-bio-stub) This biographical article related to sailing in England is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:England-sailing-bio-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AEngland-sailing-bio-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:England-sailing-bio-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sarah Ayton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Ayton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Ayton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.