US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards are the most important respective recognitions for American sailing’s many notable champions. So diverse is the sport these days, however, that it is becoming ever more difficult to highlight one champion over another. Many are worthy, but only two earn the honor.

Two-time yachtswoman of the year and kiteboarder extraordinaire Daniella Moroz is the first female to authoritatively usher in the outliers of traditional sailing into the discussion of what qualifies as a “yacht” or a “yachtswoman.” Johnny Heineken led the way in 2012 with his Rolex win, but Moroz’s dominance of the women’s kite racing scene has only grown since she first won her Rolex in 2016—at the age of 15. Her success at the international level was as impressive back then as it is today; she’s now sitting on a third Yachtswoman of the Year title and her sixth kiteboard world title. She’s fast tracking to the 2024 Olympic Regatta and could very well be the top shortlist nominee for the Rolex again when open (public) nominations end on December 15.  

On the men’s side, the potential field of nominees will no doubt be broad and long, a mixture of owner/driver types alongside the professional crews that bring them to the winner’s circle. Young Harry Melges IV, who stood at the Rolex awards podium alongside Moroz in 2022, was celebrated for his dominance of the scow-sailing world and ultimately earned his Rolex over the likes of Olympian and champion crew Dave Hughes, one-design whisperer Willem Van Waay, and ace crew Erik Shampain, as well as Sunfish world champ Conner Blouin.

The public process to nominate starts with a visit to nomination portal which explicitly explains that the award: “recognizes the individual male/female U.S. sailor who has demonstrated on-the-water excellence in the calendar year…Athletes must be eligible to represent the USA under World Sailing regulations, and actually representing the USA at the event(s) for which the nominee is being considered for the award. Most finalists have won a major international or national event and/or performed at a high level consistently in multiple events against elite competition. There is no minimum age required to win the award. The award is not based on career racing results (lifetime achievements) or philanthropic contributions to the sport.”

Following the close of the nomination period, US Sailing’s nominating committee, approved by the Board of Directors, will select three finalists for both the Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Award based on the merits of the nominees. The finalists will be posted to a ballot and presented to voting groups of past award winners and sailing media journalists who will vote for the winners. Winners will be announced live on Thursday, February 2, 2023 at an evening reception as part of US Sailing’s Sailing Leadership Forum in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

Easy enough.

I’ve submitted my nominees for Willem Van Waay, a committed and hard-charging champion of the J/70, J/24 and J/80 classes (including the recent world championships) who is long overdue for his recognition, and for Jim Murray, of Lake Bluff, Illinois, who led his amateur team to an impressive Bermuda Race division win in June with his Pac52, and then had one heck of a summer J/109 racing in the Great Lakes before returning to the 52 with a string of late-year victories in Florida. On the women’s side, Moroz is my top nominee again: a world title in this discipline does not come easy and her successful forays into SailGP and other foiling classes demonstrates her expanding skillset and commitment to on-the-water excellence.

Now, go nominate. December 15 is fast approaching.

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Olympic gold medalists Hannah Mills MBE (GBR) and Eilidh McIntyre (GBR) were voted female 2021 Rolex World Sailor of the Year on Thursday 2 December in a virtual ceremony streamed live from the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, UK.

Australia’s Tom Slingsby has won the male 2021 Rolex World Sailor of the Year in celebration of his achievements in three competitive classes over the past two years.

Mills and McIntyre claimed gold in Tokyo in the 470 class, a victory which made Mills the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time. This was her second Olympic gold, repeating her victory from Rio 2016 with her new partner. McIntyre won her first gold medal in Tokyo and followed in the footsteps of her father, Michael, who won gold at the 1988 Games in Seoul. The pair received 37% of the votes, making them the clear choice for this year’s female Rolex World Sailor of the Year award.

Slingsby secured 29 percent of the votes after defending his Moth World Championship, winning 13 of the 14 races, securing back-to-back 2019 and 2021 title wins. He has also set the standard in the global SailGP circuit, earning the season 1 title as Team CEO and Skipper of TeamAustralia, which is also currently top of the series leaderboard with just two events remaining in season 2. He capped a fantastic year on the water by being part of the crew of Comanche, winners of the 2021 Rolex Middle Sea Race.

A record-breaking 40,000 votes were cast this year to honour the achievements of sailors across all disciplines.

Speaking live at the awards ceremony, Hannah Mills, who is also a sustainability ambassador for the International Olympic Committee said, “I am completely blown away. The lineup this year was absolutely incredible. I am so proud of Eilidh for everything she put into this Olympic campaign, she was the absolute best teammate. I am really honored. I feel privileged to be a female in sailing right now, there are so many opportunities out there. I really hope to be a part of forging the pathway for female sailors of today and for the future. It is inspirational to be part of a federation like World Sailing who take sustainability so seriously and I feel so lucky to be involved in such an amazing sport.”

Eilidh McIntyre added, “I just want to say thank you to Hannah, and everyone for voting for us and for all of your support. We wouldn’t be here without all of the amazing women pushing us.”

Tom Slingsby said, “This is a huge honor for me. Thank you to everyone who voted. I remember when I was 15 years old, I wrote down my career goals and it was to win the Olympic Gold medal, win the America’s Cup and win World Sailor of the Year. I am very fortunate, this is the second time I have won the World Sailor of the Year award. I am so lucky to be in the position I am and to get these amazing opportunities. Congratulations to all the other guys, there were some unbelievable sailors nominated this year.”

World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award

The World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award went to the Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation for increasing the participation of ethnically diverse and female sailors in Durban, South Africa. In the time since launching, the number of girls racing has increased and podium positions have improved year on year. Sailing is now a much more multicultural sport.

The program has doubled as a life skills initiative, ensuring positive sustainable outcomes around alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, developing education and creating environmental awareness. The foundation won the Ethekwini Maritime Cluster Award for Empowering Youth in 2017 and was profiled as part of this year’s World Sailing Steering the Course program.

The 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award celebrates the effective execution or ongoing delivery of high-impact, highly replicable sustainability initiatives that work to protect and restore the health of the ocean, and are aligned with the World Sailing Sustainability Agenda 2030. The award is open to National Federations, sailing clubs, event organizing committees, individual sailors, or any other sailing-related organizations.

The Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation will receive a 10,000 USD prize from 11th Hour Racing to fund their continued sustainability efforts as well as the iconic trophy made from recycled carbon fiber from an America’s Cup boat, infused with bio resin.

Nigel Milln, Chairman of Sail Africa, said, “This award really means a lot to us and Sail Africa. Our focus on racing sustainability and looking after our oceans is a huge benefit to Africa and to smaller development bodies like ourselves. It gives encouragement to the rest of the world that together we can make a difference. We are contributing to the newly-developed South Africa and giving enthusiasm and confidence to the people through sailing. It is an amazing thing that sailing does for everybody and we are very grateful to be a part of it.”

Todd McGuire, managing director, 11th Hour Racing, said, “Congratulations to the four finalists of the World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award. You were chosen from a highly competitive group of non-profit organizations, teams, individuals, events, sailing classes, and manufacturers. You are the innovators within the sailing industry, focused on the sustainability of our sport and restoring the health of our ocean.”

Quanhai Li, World Sailing President, said, “Sailing is blessed with so many talented, determined and accomplished athletes. The accomplishments of this year’s nominees are truly inspirational and every one of the sailors on the shortlist deserves to win Rolex World Sailor of the Year. My congratulations go to Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre, and Tom Slingsby. We look forward to seeing what you do next.

“I would like to also draw special attention to Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation, winner of the 11th Hour Sustainability Award. This has been a life-changing project and ensures that under-represented communities have the opportunity to take part while showing that the sport prioritizes responsible development and inclusion. The potential for this project to be replicated is huge and it will make a lasting difference to the sport and to the world.”

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One-hundred and twenty five yachts are currently entered in this year’s October classic, just shy of the 130-boat record set in 2018. Not bad, given the circumstances surrounding this year’s event and proof positive of the enduring popularity of offshore racing and this classic of the Mediterranean in particular.

The start from Grand Harbour, Valetta, on Saturday 23 October promises to be a spectacular occasion. The historic port filled with yachts and cannon fire ringing around the 16th century fortifications.

The fleet assembling ranges in scope from mighty Maxi Monohulls and Maxi Multihulls to plucky double-handed crews. The largest yacht registered is the Monegasque flagged 140-foot0 Skorpios, the smallest is 31-foot Hanse 311, Gabriele Spaggiari’s Catina 4, from Italy.

Given the right conditions, the race record of 47 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds will be under serious threat with the likes of Skorpios, the 100-footer Comanche, the 88-footer Rambler (USA) on the line, and not forgetting the multihulls, whose own record is nearly nine hours slower than the race/monohull time. Maserati Multi70 (ITA), the two MOD 70s: Mana (ITA) and Argo (USA), and the 80-foot Ultime Emotion (FRA) must all have the aspiration, if circumstances lend themselves to a fast run. The current benchmark time has stood since 2007, or 13 editions, itself a record with the previous longest run being eight races.

All eyes, though, will be on the main prize: the overall win under IRC time correction and the magnificent Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy commissioned in 1968 by the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Malta Tourism Authority (then, the Malta Government Tourist Board) and created by noted local artist Emanuel Vincent “Emvin” Cremona.

The host nation, Malta, has been the most successful in recent years, winning the trophy on four occasions since 2010. For the past two editions, the Podesta family, racing the First 45 Elusive 2, has won the ultimate prize. Aaron, Christoph, and Maya with their crew of friends are on a hattrick of victories for 2021, a feat last achieved over 40 years ago by Nita IV from 1978 to 1980.

Lee Satariano has lifted the trophy twice, in 2011 and 2014, in his previous boat. His latest, the carbon HH42 Artie III, is racing this year with the added impetus of multiple race winners, Christian Ripard and Timmy Camilleri onboard.

The 42nd edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 23 October 2021, with the start streamed live on both Facebook and YouTube from 10.30 CEST on Saturday, 23 October 2021.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Gambin with his Dufour 44 Ton Ton Laferla, third overall last year, has acquired profound knowledge of the task having competed in every race since 2008.  Two boats new to the race are under the stewardship of Maltese skippers and crew that also know the course well. Aaron Gatt Floridia has entered with his brand new ICE52 Otra Vez, designed by Umberto Felci.  Sebastian Ripard, the grandson of John Ripard Sr the winner of the first ever race, will skipper an all-Maltese crew on the brand-new J/99 Calypso. The crew includes his father John Jr and brother Tom. Like Sebastian, they have both won the race before.

In 2018, Géry Trenteseaux’s Courrier Recommandé became the third French winner. This year, at least three French teams could be among the contenders. The NMD43 Albator, campaigned by Benoit Briand, was third overall in 2018. Noel Racine last competed in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2016 coming fourth overall in a JPK 1010. This year, Racine will be racing his new JPK 1030, also named Foggy Dew. Eric de Turckheim’s NYMD54 Teasing Machine was third in 2017.

The race has seen a rise in Russian Federation entries over recent years and this edition is no exception with seven teams competing. The pick of these include Igor Rytov’s JPK 1080, Bogatyr, which was victorious in 2016, the first Russian yacht to win one of the 600-mile offshore classics; as well as Alexey Moskvin J/122 Buran, third overall in 2020, and Timofey Zhbankov’s JPK 1180 Rossko, fifth in 2020.

Some 19 Italian teams are expected and with 14 overall victories out 41, Italy has the most wins in the history of the race. Boats to look out for include Marco Paolucci’s Comet 45 Libertine and Leonardo Petti’s J/109 Chestress.

Perhaps surprisingly, contenders from the United Kingdom have won overall on only two occasions, Charles Dunstone’s Nokia in 2003 and Andres Soriano’s Alegre in 2009. Thirteen British teams are currently entered. A number were in fine form at the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race and three of those crews will be making their debut here: RORC Commodore James Neville with his HH42 Ino XXX was second overall at the Rolex Fastnet, Andrew Hall’s Lombard 46 Pata Negra was third and Rob Bottomley’s Mat12 Sailplane was fifth. It would be unwise to rule out Mark Emerson and the A13 Phosphorus II, who finished sixth and have raced this course in a previous boat in 2015. The headline news, though, is surely the late entry of the overall winner of the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race. Tom Kneen’s JPK 1180 Sunrise must be one of the favorites having finished fourth at the Rolex Middle Sea Race in 2019.

Germany has secured two wins and two entries are probably in the running this time around. Carl-Peter Forster will be racing the TP52 Freccia Rossa, which in different hands was seventh overall in 2020. TP52s have been highly successful in the race winning on three occasions in the last 10 editions. Maximilian Klink is taking part in his fifth race with a brand new Botin 52, Caro, highly optimized for IRC.

Hungarian, Swedis or Swiss teams have never won the Rolex Middle Sea Race. Hoping to lead their respective nation to a first will be regular competitors Marton Jozsa and the Reichel/Pugh 60 Wild Joe (HUN) and Franco Niggeler with the Cookson 50 Kuka 3 (SUI). Both Wild Joe and Kuka 3 have shown form in previous editions. From Sweden, Jonas Grander’s Elliott 44 Matador arrives on the back of a fourth-place finish at the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race.

Finally, the Maxi monohull yachts have the capability of not only taking line honors and breaking records, but also winning overall after IRC time correction. Proof lies with George David’s 90-foot Rambler achieving the treble in 2007, preceded by Zephyrus IV in 2000. Double winners litter the history of the race, with Atalanta II in 2005 and Benbow in 1977 being two of the notable.

All in all, the 42nd Rolex Middle Sea Race can count itself a success whatever the outcome. For the second year in a row, the organizers – the Royal Malta Yacht Club – look to have answered every test the pandemic can throw. And, while nothing is certain, can look forward to embellishing the history of this much-loved and much-fabled race.

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2019

Ichi Ban owner Matt Allen, a member of the Australian Olympic Committee and immediate past president of Australian Sailing, launched Ichi Ban in late December 2017. It has paid him back tenfold since. Some of the highlights include: 2017 – line and overall double in Newcastle Bass Island Race (its first race); won Rolex Sydney Hobart overall.

“To win again this year is just incredible,” Allen remarked, after sailing his 30th Sydney Hobart.

“We’ve spent so many years putting this boat together with two aims – winning the Sydney Hobart and winning the Blue Water Pointscore (BWPS),” the yachtsman said when told he had won both the race and the BWPS from Matt Donald and Chris Townsend’s Gweilo and Bob Steel and Craig Neil’s Quest – in both events.

In 2018, Allen skippered Ichi Ban to wins in the Australian Yachting Championships (won all eight races); Brisbane to Gladstone, Flinders Islet and Newcastle Bass Island and Bird Island races, and the CYCA’s Blue Water Pointscore. Ichi Ban was also named RORC Yacht of the Year.

In 2019, Ichi Ban’s wins included Division 1 of the Australian Yachting Championships; Adelaide Port Lincoln Race (also taking line honors), the Brisbane Hamilton Island, Flinders Islet and Newcastle Bass Island races. These performances landed the TP52 in the finals of the 2019 World Sailing Boat of the Year.

“I helped in the design process,” Allen said. “We put the right package together; the boat, crew and culture. We all just go and work and sail hard together; there are no egos on board. It’s a fulfilment of the sailing capability of the crew and the whole project.

“In 2016, I invited Gordon Maguire (a highly respected yachtsman) to have coffee with me and told him I was putting a new boat together. He has been with me since.

“Gordon, Anthony Merrington, Robert Greenhalgh, Dick Parker, Will (Oxley), James Paterson, Dav (Davin Conigrave) – his third win in nine races; Tim Sellars, Sean (O’Rourke), Charles Kosecki, James Corrie, Matiu (Te Hau), Ashley (Deeks) and Jeremy (Rae). A really amazing group of guys; experienced and calm.

“All the campaigns have really stepped up this year; people have tried to emulate what we have done. There’s no doubt about the competition in this race – in the 44 to 55 footers alone, it is incredible,” Allen said. “You wouldn’t find the competition we have in this race anywhere else in the world.

“We’ve had conditions to suit these boats the last few years in the Sydney Hobart. You go so fast in the north-easterlies; you go very fast. One year we’ll get southerlies again though.”

Allen has been blooded by some of legends in yachting. “I always remember my great sailing times with Lou Abrahams – he won two,” says Allen who raced with the great Victorian yachtsman when he won in 1983.

“I took some time out on that first afternoon to think about Lou and Trygve (Halvorsen), and others that I sailed with that meant something to me,” he said.

Reflecting on his and the crew’s win, Allen said, “It was right to the bitter end. We came around Tasman with a great lead on the others and then Gweilo came back within 2 miles. It would have been on – we would have had to match race them.

“We had to watch Quest (2008 winner, then 2015 winner as Balance, and runner-up to Ichi Ban in 2017 by just 10 minutes) too, and wondered how it would work out.”

Steel and Neil’s Quest was leading the race down the Tasmanian Coast, but found a parking lot that killed their chances.

“Envy Scooters is my previous TP52, and she was always there, sailing with us too,” said the yachtsman who thought the winners would come from the 60 footers down to as small as Daguet 3 (a Ker 46).

“We didn’t go upwind enough to open the door for the smaller boats. The closer we got to the finish, we thought the smaller boats would get shutdown. We were confident that if it came down to the TPs, we were in the box seat.”

In the end, TP52s claimed the top three places overall, with Ichi Ban first, Gweilo second and Quest third.

“We knew we had to beat Quest by over an hour to win,” Allen said of the yacht that has twice won the race and was looking good to win until they found a parking lot in Storm Bay,” Allen said.

“It was fast conditions on Friday night. They (Quest) had the pedal down and so did we.

We were always looking at Gweilo and my old boat, Envy Scooters (Barry Cuneo), too. They were always up to different things.

“We had our game plan. We didn’t alter it for them, but you always keep an eye on them. Once or twice we almost changed it, but decided against it.

“Ichi Ban is two years old now, so we know a lot more about it than we did in the beginning. There were a couple of things that we were still making up as we went along when we won in 2017.

“The boat is great. It’s a good all-round boat and doesn’t really have a weakness. You never know what conditions you are going to get, but we are confident that we can push her hard and we do push her hard. It’s a great, fun boat to sail.”

Ichi Ban will next head to the Australian Yachting Championships, to be hosted by the Rolex Sydney Hobart finishing partner Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, starting in three days’ time.

“We’ll go there to try and defend the title we won last year. It will be predominantly the same crew as the Hobart minus a couple. Three days of sailing in some of the trickiest waters in Australia.”

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The line-up of Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2019 nominees has been announced by World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, and Rolex, the leading name in prestige watches that includes watches engineered specifically for sailing. Three female and four male nominees represent the success stories in the beautifully diverse and dynamic sport of sailing. Young and old nominees truly highlight the sport as one that can be participated in at the highest level throughout a sailor’s career. The nominees have performed at the highest level over the last 12 months and continue to inspire globally.

The 2019 Rolex World Sailor of the Year female nominees are: Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA) – 2018 PWA World Tour Slalom World Champion, Violeta del Reino (ESP) – 2019 Para World Sailing Championship Hansa 303 World Champion, and Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) – 2019 Laser Radial World and European Champion.

Dominance has become the norm for Cousin Questel who, throughout the nomination period, has won seven PWA World Tour events in the slalom and foil disciplines.

A mainstay on the PWA World Tour since 2010, Cousin Questel won every slalom event in 2018. Success at the Fly! ANA Windsurf, Ulsan and Viana PWA World Cup Slalom rounds ensured she finished 400 points clear of her nearest rivals to claim the 2018 Women’s Slalom World Championship title. The world title was Cousin Questel’s third and her first since 2014 after Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU) dominated the circuit. The French windsurfer, whose first world title came in 2013, continued to succeed in both slalom and foil in 2019.

To date, Cousin Questel has won the 2019 Marignane and Ulsan PWA World Cup Slalom titles with a second place at the Waterz Festival in Hvide Sande, Denmark and leads the race to become 2019 World Champion. In the foil discipline, she won the 2019 Fly! ANA Windsurf and Ulsan PWA World Cup and is on track to make it two world titles in 2019.

Spain’s Violeta del Reino has become a leading light at the Para World Sailing Championships, racing in the Women’s Hansa 303 division. The Spanish racer won the inaugural title in Kiel, Germany in 2017 before finishing third at the 2018 edition in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

A Rio 2016 Paralympian in the SKUD18, del Reino went into the 2019 Para World Sailing Championships, held in Cadiz, Spain in July, determined to win back the crown she narrowly missed out on in 2018. Heading into the final race on her home waters, the fight for the gold medal was not so clear-cut with most of the six-boat Medal Race fleet still in with a chance at a podium spot.

But it was del Reino who kept her composure to clinch the final victory, and with it, the gold medal in her home country.

On the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, regular success in the Laser Radial has been hard to come by. Danish sailor Anne-Marie Rindom has broken that trend, finding the right rhythm and form as the clock ticks down the 2020 Olympiad as she bids to upgrade her Rio 2016 bronze medal.

In July 2019, Rindom secured her second Laser Radial world title in Sakaiminiati, Japan, highlighting her as a favourite for Tokyo 2020. Her World Championship success has not been isolated and throughout 2019 alone she has won four gold medals at high-profile events.

Before she headed to Japan for the 2019 World Championship, Rindom secured gold at the Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofia Regatta in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. She then topped the standings at her second consecutive event after she won in light and challenging wind conditions at the Hempel World Cup Series event in Genoa, Italy. Just weeks later she made it three in a row by securing the European Championship title in Porto, Portugal, moving to World #1 as a result. Most recently, Rindom finished second on Olympic waters at the Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima event.

On the male side, the list includes: Antoine Albeau (FRA) – PWA World Tour Slalom World Champion; Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) – 2019 470 World, European and Hempel World Cup Series Champions; Marco Gradoni (ITA) – 2018 and 2019 Optimist World Champion; and Francis Joyon (FRA) – Route du Rhum winner

At 47 years old, Albeau claimed his 25th world title in the Pro Windsurfers Association World Tour in 2018 – and he is showing no signs of slowing down. Albeau started windsurfing aged five and in 1992 he turned professional. Since then he has accumulated national and international titles to position him as one of the greatest windsurfers of all time.

A specialist in slalom racing, freestyle and waves, Albeau fended off competition from 117 slalom racers in 2018 to claim the PWA World Tour Slalom world title. Across the six-race series, Albeau finished outside the podium just once, using all of his experience to claim a convincing victory against a younger fleet of racers. He also finished third in the 2018 Foil World Championship.

In 2019, Albeau remains in the hunt for a 26th world title and is third overall in slalom after four events. In addition to his World Championship success, Albeau also holds the fastest speed recorded on a windsurfer, reaching 53.27 knots in 2015.

Remarkable consistency, outstanding performance and gold medals are synonymous to Australian 470 sailors Mat Belcher and Will Ryan. The Australian duo are the leading lights in the Men’s 470 and over the last 12 months they have set the performance bar higher than ever.

Throughout the nomination period, the pair have won when it’s really mattered. They first clinched the 470 European title in San Remo, Italy in May – their fourth European title together. They followed up with victory at the Hempel World Cup Series Final in Marseille, France before heading to Enoshima, Japan, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue, for a triple header that would define their year.

Up first, the 470 World Championship in a 52-boat fleet. The pair were set for a straight shootout for gold against Spanish rivals in the Medal Race, but their opponents’ OCS handed the title to the Australians. It was the pair’s fifth world title together and Belcher’s eighth in total.

Ready, Steady Tokyo – Sailing, the Olympic test event, followed just days later and once again the Australians prevailed by a narrow margin. Belcher and Ryan then signed off their Japanese tour with their third gold medal in almost as many weeks as they took the Hempel World Cup Series Enoshima honors. Their success on Olympic waters has positioned them firmly as favourites for Tokyo 2020 and on current form, it’s hard to picture anyone stopping them.

Touted as the most talented and accomplished sailor of his age group, Gradoni’s results throughout the nomination period certainly highlight that statement. Gradoni won the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Optimist World Championship, demonstrating his potential but he made history in 2019 as he won the largest ever Optimist World Championship. More than 250 sailors from 65 nations lined up in Antigua and Gradoni excelled, taking the World Championship title for the third consecutive year alongside winning the 2019 Optimist Team Racing Championship with his Italian team-mates.

Outside of his World Championship success, Gradoni has finished first in every Optimist event he has participated in since September 2018. He started the period off by winning the 2018 Optimist World Championship in Cyprus for the second time, with 9 victories from 10 races. In the spring he topped 940 boats to take the Garda Meeting title for the second year in a row. The final event of his Optimist career was the 2019 World Championship where he won seven of 12 races to claim the title once again. Throughout the nomination period, he won 14 consecutive gold medals, marking him as a star of the future. If at first you don’t succeed, try again and again and again. Having sailed his first Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in 1990, Francis Joyon never lost sight of winning the famous solo transatlantic race. He finished second in 2010 and came through in sixth in 2014, but all the near misses were about to change in 2018 as he set sail in his eighth edition of the race.

In the closest finish since the event was first staged in 1978, the French ocean racing veteran won the 40th anniversary Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo transatlantic race from Saint Malo to Pointe-À-Pitre.

In the clammy heat and light winds of the Caribbean night, the 62-year-old glided across the finish line on IDEC Sport at 23:21.47 local time on 10 November to beat the poster boy of French offshore sailing, François Gabart on MACIF by just seven minutes and eight seconds.

Joyon’s victory concluded a thrilling finale in the ULTIME class as he defeated 123 skippers across six classes and set a new record time for the 3,542-nautical mile course of just seven days, 14 hours and 21 minutes. Having trailed Gabart for much of the race, MACIF sustained some damage which handed IDEC Sport the initiative. But it wasn’t until the famous Basse Terre buoy, 24-miles out from the finish, that Joyon grabbed the lead. This resulted in a side-by-side drag race to the finish as Gabart clawed back time with better light wind performance. Joyon managed to hold on to claim a famous victory.

The female and male winners will be announced at the World Sailing Awards Ceremony in Bermuda on 29 October 2019. Each winner will be presented with the unique marble and silver trophy depicting the globe, crowned with five silver spinnakers representing the continents, together with a Rolex timepiece.

World Sailing also announced its nominees for the 2019 Hempel Team of the Year Award, with entries from Australia, Switzerland and the USA in the running. Switzerland’s Alinghi, the Australian SailGP Team, Wild Oats XI of Australia and the American boat Wizard all feature on the shortlist following their success over the last 12 months of high-performance international competition.

The Hempel Team of the Year Award celebrates teams of two or more sailors who personify the sporting values of integrity, ambition, resilience and resourcefulness.

The shortlist was drawn up by Yann Rocherieux, Chairman of World Sailing’s Athletes’ Commission and World Sailing Board Member; Thomas Olsen, Decorative and Yacht Marketing Director at Hempel, World Sailing’s Official Coatings Partner; Stan Honey, Chairman of the Oceanic and Offshore Committee; Eddie Warden Owen, CEO of the Royal Ocean Racing Club; and Andy Rice, leading sailing journalist.

The judging panel will vote on the winner before they are announced on Tuesday 29 October 2019 at the World Sailing Awards in Bermuda.

Following Alinghi‘s creation in 1994, the Swiss team have enjoyed global success including victories at the 31st and 32nd America’s Cup. Spearheaded by Ernesto Bertarelli and Arnaud Psarofaghis, the team continued to add to their trophy cabinet in the D35 and GC32 with global regatta victories at the end of 2018 and throughout 2019.

In the 2018 Extreme Sailing Series, racing the GC32, they concluded the year with a second place in San Diego, USA before winning the final event of the series in Los Cabos, Mexico. This handed them their fourth Extreme Sailing Series title.

Alinghi‘s success in the GC32 continued in 2019. They started the GC32 Racing Tour with a second place in the Villasimius Cup before winning the 2019 World Championship in style with eight victories during the 18-race series in Lagos, Portugal. A second place followed at the 38th Copa del Rey MAPFRE before another victory at the GC32 Riva Cup. After four events they are poised to claim the series win.

And in the 16th and final season of the D35 Trophy, Alinghi triumphed for the eighth time, winning four of seven events to take the silverware.

Led by Australian Olympic gold medalist and America’s Cup winner Tom Slingsby, the Australian SailGP Team have dominated the first season of SailGP, the fan-centric grand prix sailing series. At the series opener on their home waters in Sydney, Slingsby and his team of experienced America’s Cup, Olympic and Ocean Race sailors controlled the fleet of six and defeated their nearest rivals, Japan’s SailGP Team, skippered by Nathan Outteridge.

Further success followed for Slingsby in San Francisco before the Japanese team hit back with an event win in New York. The Australian team then returned to the top of the leaderboard by winning their third event in Cowes, Great Britain, booking them a place in Marseille’s million-dollar Match Race Final where they faced familiar foe Outteridge and his Japan team.

At the beginning of the race, Slingsby and the Australian team handed the Japanese an advantage after receiving a penalty for entering the start box early, but soon caught up with their rivals. Outteridge then looked to force a penalty on Slingsby which backfired, handing the Australians a lead that they never relinquished to win the SailGP Season 1 trophy and US$1 million.

Wild Oats XI continue to set the bar in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and in 2018, Mark Richards’ team of 20, which includes some of the world’s most talented and applauded sailors with backgrounds in the America’s Cup, Olympic Games and The Ocean Race, won the coveted line honors title for the ninth time.

Retirements in 2015 and 2016, followed by a one-hour penalty in 2017, saw the famous Wild Oats XI miss out on the line honors title that they had won a record eight times the ten years prior. But in 2018, alongside navigator Juan Vila, Richards and the crew put that three years of misery behind them.

The team were locked in a four-way battle between Black Jack, Comanche and InfoTrack throughout the 628 nautical mile race. Up until two hours before the finish, the race was still wide open, but Wild Oats XI managed to put enough distance in between themselves and their rivals to win by less than 30 minutes and extend their winning line honors record.

David and Peter Askew’s team on Wizard have enjoyed a highly successful 2019, dominating the offshore circuit. Skippered by Charlie Enright, the team featured offshore veterans such as Will Oxley, Richard Clarke and Mark Towill and won the 2019 RORC Caribbean 600 Trophy, scoring the best corrected time under IRC. Their near-faultless performance saw them complete the 600-mile non-stop race in 43 hours, 38 minutes and 44 seconds.

With success in the Caribbean under their belt, they headed to Europe in search of Rolex Fastnet Race honors. Sailing in the West to East Transat Race, the team fought SHK Scallyway for line honors, a boat some 30 feet longer than Wizard. Although they fell just seven hours short during the ten-day sail, Wizard‘s speed was enough to claim a comprehensive IRC 1 victory.

Enright, Towill, Oxley and the team continued to sail immaculately and at the Rolex Fastnet Race they again fought larger boats to punch above their weight. The power of Rambler 88 eventually came through, but Wizard were once again crowned IRC overall winners, marking an unrivalled period of offshore success.

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Croatia was exacting. It was the challenge of adapting to new venues. Cascais is an old friend who punishes mistakes, it is about executing perfectly on a totally familiar race course, one which everyone knows where – and when – they want to go, but only one or two boats can sail those premium fast lanes.

With 17-28 knots of typical northwesterly wind, Races 1 and 2 of the Rolex TP52 World Championship Cascais 2018 were sailed in a building swell which, as ever, delivered downwind surfing gains that were as important as the choice of shift or wind pressure. Watching the most polished crews and the top drivers was instructive. And just as the conditions proved typical of what the TP52 fleet sailors have come to know and love about Cascais, so it is the two most seasoned and successful teams on the circuit that share the overall lead. Azzurra won the first race and took second in the next one, but Quantum Racing lead the title charge because their scoreline is the mirror image of Azzurra’s. With Dean Barker on the helm, Quantum Racing were second to their old rivals in the first race, and then won the second, and so are credited with the championship lead after Day 1, on countback only.

©Nico Martinez/52Super Series

Smiling broadly, Quantum Racing’s Terry Hutchinson confirmed: “That was champagne Cascais conditions. When the fleet committed to coming here, that is what we were looking for. It was a great way to start the regatta, but Azzurra sailed really, really well.

“Today was about balancing the risk of racing hard, the risk in the maneuvers you have to do. We were pretty aggressive gybing on the first run of the first race, and on the second run of the first race as well, when you are doing a lot of boat handling there comes risk. In the last race we gybed and the sheet went over the prod, we were over layline anyway, and so we did not have any more jibes to do. But you aggressively boat handle and in 30 knots, then there is always the potential for it to go bad. We were just consistent, no big highs, no big lows.”

Azzurra came off the start line and went early right with all the conviction, impetus and motivation of a team that has underperformed this season, starting here as 2017 circuit champions, but 25 points off season leaders Quantum Racing. They sailed immaculately, slick and smooth in their handling, and accurate in their laylines to win their first race of the season. Sled, one of the most consistent teams this season, saw their kite rip from luff to leech on the run and so dropped from fourth to eighth.

But for Azzurra, and new tactician this season Santiago Lange, it was clearly good to finally chalk up a win and prove they have lost nothing of their Gaucho’s free-thinking spirit in the breeze. In contrast it was a miserable start for Luna Rossa, which suffered a hydraulics failure and so had to sit out the first race.

“Finally, a win,” said Santi Lange tactician on Azzurra. “I think that we put it all together better. The guys did a very good job sailing the boat, and we made no mistakes, like all the mistakes we did in Zadar, several times. And when you put it all together like that, the level of this team is high enough to win, for sure. Today it was key to the right and make no mistakes. It looks easy but any jibe – like jibing at the top mark – is a big maneuver for sure, and so it is not all about tactics, it is about sailing the boat really well and the guys did that today.”

©Nico Martinez/52Super Series

Sled led early in the second race that saw the breeze building up still more – over 25 knots at some times – but they were rolled after the top mark. Azzurra benefited on the last run when Alegre wiped out and so took second and earned their share the championship lead. The two leaders already have five points of a cushion over Andy Soriano’s Alegre – two fourth places today – and Harm Müller-Spreer’s current world champions Platoon.

“The top two boats are pretty quick upwind,” says Alegre’s Andy Horton, “went to the correct side of the course, and didn’t have any majors, and I think that was pretty much it! We had a couple little things, but they didn’t have any mistakes that I saw.”

The forecast for the coming days promises similar brisk conditions. Racing is streamed live every day from 15 minutes before the start at www.52SUPERSERIES.com and via the app.

Rolex TP52 World Championship Cascais 2018 Standings:

1. Quantum Racing (USA) (Doug DeVos) 2,1 p.3
2. Azzurra (ARG/ITA) (Alberto and Pablo Roemmers) 1,2 p.3
3. Platoon (GER) (Harm Müller-Spreer) 3,5, p.8
4. Alegre (USA/GBR) (Andrés Soriano) 4,4 p. 8
5. Sled (USA) (Takashi Okura) 8,3 p.11
6. Phoenix (RSA) (Hasso/Tina Plattner) 6,7 p.13
7. Provezza (TUR) (Ergin Imre) 5,9 p.14
8. Onda (BRA) (Eduardo de Souza Ramos) 7,81 p.15
9. Luna Rossa (ITA) (Patrizio Bertelli) DNF10, 6 p.16

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There was a clear and present theme that spontaneously tied together the two very different speeches of US Sailing’s 2018 Rolex Yachtswoman and Yachtsman of the Year Award recipients.

From behind podium in the Model Room of the New York Yacht Club’s 44th Street Clubhouse, the message from both champion sailors was clear: greatness comes not only from oneself, but from a much larger base of support.

Take Erika Reineke, for example, the outstanding young Floridian sailor and byproduct of Lauderdale YC’s high-powered sailing program. Reineke’s family came late to the sport of sailing, nudging her into South Florida’s cutthroat Optimist dinghy scene at an early age. Reineke says she hated it, but her mom’s cookies got her though tough times and tears. Eventually, she caught on to it. When exactly the switch flipped she cannot say, but she does recall one particular trophy presentation as wide-eyed White Fleeter that could have been the moment.

There she was, sitting on the floor along with all the other kids, waiting for her participation trophy at the annual end-of-season junior sailing banquet. On stage helping pass out the hardware was local Olympic 470 silver medalist Morgan Reeser, his own silver hardware from Barcelona reflecting in bright light beam.

When she had the chance to meet him, all she could muster was the coy smile of a young blonde sailor, and an “OK…thanks,” before dashing outside to play tag with the other kids. That moment, that medal, she realizes now, was a jagged point of inspiration.

Then there’s her Boston College sailing college coach, Greg Wilkinson, who for five years dished out tough love and practical wisdom. To be named the Female College Sailor of the Year is a big deal. Four years is remarkable, but there was Reineke and Wilkinson, together atop the heap, year after year. Reineke still holds dear the worn-paper notes Wilkinson would pass to her between races; nuggets of knowledge that led her to one college sailing victory after another, notes that helped simplify her focus and separate emotion from pressures encountered on the racecourse.

Now she’s the charge of Malcom Page, the new big-time boss of the US Sailing Team. Despite a gold medal at her first international event in 2017, there’s a lot of work to do, and a lot of sailing miles between Florida and Tokyo, but her talent is innate and the path is clear.

She’s young-there’s decades between herself and Yachtsman of the Year, Peter Duncan, a world champion of the J/70 class and top Etchells helmsman. Duncan, of Rye, New York’s American YC, has been at the game for a long time, racing with his family early on, alongside the family dog. A Long Island Sound water rat of sorts, Duncan took to the casually early on and taught sailing as a summer sailing job through college. He went on to a lucrative career in New York real estate, kids, family and all of that, but the Etchells was his entre to top-level racing. It’s kept him there as well, and now that he’s an empty nester, he’s free to dive in deep. He’s dabbled in other classes – Melges 20 and Melges 24- but the J/70 is the new demand on his attention. Between late 2016 and 2017, he says, he racked up more than 100 days of sailing with A-List crews to get him up to speed.

One of those sailing days, he recalls, was an inglorious tuning session in England. Smitten with blistering speeds downwind on the Solent that day, he’d neglected to notice one well-marked and well-known shoal and bricked the boat at full pace.

Live and learn.

The team that ultimately got Duncan to the dance at the Audi J/70 World Championships in Porto Cervo, Italy, last year were Jud Smith, the white-haired sailmaker from Marblehead and Yachtsman of the Year, who did bow and strategy, and the dynamic duo of Willem Van Waay and Victor Diaz de Leon. Van Waay, says Duncan, is the best trimmer and overall enthusiast he’s ever sailed with. It’s widely known in the class, that if you can tap Van Waay, you’re guaranteed a place at the front of the fleet. Same goes for his protégé Diaz de Leon.

Beyond acknowledging his sailing teammates, Duncan concluded his remarks to the Rolex luncheon attendees with a nod to his family; a wife that understands his commitment to win sailboat races, and the kids understood he had to do his thing. Like Reineke, he acknowledges, he is nothing, without the mountain of support that holds him above the rest and allows him to strive for excellence.

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It is never enough simply to possess talent, although there was plenty of that in clear evidence as the sailing world gathered in Barcelona to celebrate the achievements of some of its finest athletes; those individuals who have delivered outstanding performances throughout the past twelve months, all in the pursuit of excellence.

The winners of the 2016 Rolex World Sailors of the Year were announced at an impressive awards ceremony held at the 18th century Casa Llotja De Mar, in the presence of some 500 guests:

Male Winner: SANTIAGO LANGE, ARGENTINA

Santiago Lange provided Rio 2016 with the fairy tale storyline of the Olympic Games as he won gold with Cecilia Carranza Saroli in the Nacra 17. At 54-years-old, six-time Olympian and two-time bronze medal winner, Lange was the oldest sailor competing, but his story goes beyond his age. Just one year prior to the Games Lange was diagnosed with cancer and had to have a lung removed. Making the start line of the competition was an achievement in itself for the resilient Argentinean. Lange showed what is possible when passion is backed by courage and determination.

“This is a very emotional moment in a very long sailing career. It is a win for ‘us’ because I could not have done it without Cecilia. I want to thank all the other nominees, they are athletes I really admire. Only the very best win gold medals at the Games, and I have a lot of respect for all the other nominees.”

As reward for his achievement, Lange was recipient of a specially engraved Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master 40 and a marble and silver trophy depicting the globe, crowned with five silver spinnakers representing the continents.

Female Winners: HANNAH MILLS & SASKIA CLARK, GREAT BRITAIN

Spurred on by missing out on London 2012 gold in the 470 Class, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark set about the Rio Games in determined fashion. They were near flawless in their build up. Gold at the 2015 Sailing World Cup Final, silver at the 2015 World Championships and two 2016 World Cup golds proved Mills and Clark were a force to be reckoned with. Once at Rio the British pair kept their focus on the task ahead. Only a disaster in the Medal Race could separate them from gold. That was never going to happen. Clark and Mills finished what they had started and wiped clean the disappointment of London.

Saskia Clark commented afterwards: “It is totally overwhelming to win this award, to see the names of previous winners, the legends of sailing in the room with us. We really weren’t expecting this.” Hannah Mills was equally elated: “The whole basis of our campaign was teamwork, our bond. To cap our year with winning this award is absolutely incredible.

Marking their triumph, Mills and Clark both received engraved Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master 37s and the same marble and silver trophy as Lange

At the beginning of the memorable evening, HM King Constantine, World Sailing President of Honour, remarked that these awards were “in recognition of an achievement that has been many years in the making. Every sailor on the nominee list has the ability to inspire the next generation and strengthen the legacy that our sport and every sport needs.”

The Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards, sponsored by Rolex since 2001, are the most prestigious awards of recognition in the dynamic sport of sailing.

About the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards

Since the awards inception in 1994, the trophy has proudly accumulated the names of those who have demonstrated unparalleled endurance, performance and accomplishment in sailing.

Competition for the 2016 Awards was truly remarkable, with five outstanding female and five equally exceptional male candidates short-listed from a field nominated by the public at large.

The eventual winners were determined by compiling votes from an online public ballot, the Member National Authorities and from guests present at the gala awards ceremony.

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A total of 12 men and six women had been shortlisted for the 2015 honors based on nominations submitted by members of US Sailing, with these two sailors then selected for the noteworthy distinction by a diverse panel of sailing journalists.

Established in 1961 by US Sailing and sponsored by Rolex Watch, U.S.A. since 1980, the annual presentation of US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards are considered the sport’s ultimate recognition of an individual’s outstanding on-the-water achievements for the calendar year. The winners will be honored on Thursday, March 3, 2016, during a luncheon at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan, when they will be presented with specially-engraved Rolex timepieces.

Rolex Yachtsman of the Year – Steve Benjamin (Norwalk, Conn.) has been named the 2015 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in recognition of a year that featured 10 wins, including the Etchells North American Championship in Rye, NY. Benjamin skippered his team to victory in the 35-boat fleet, aboard Terrapin. Benjamin, along with crew George Peet, Luke Lawrence and Julian Sudofsky, won the championship by 15 points through eight races.

Benjamin’s dominance in the Etchells went beyond the North American Championship. He placed second out of 43 boats at the World Championship in Hong Kong. His teams won at the Piana Cup, Long Island Sound Championship and Coral Reef Cup, among others.

In reflecting back on his successes, Benjamin commented on how everything came together for him and his teams in 2015. “It came down to all the quality time we were able to spend on the water together. We raced and practiced so much this year, it really helped us continue to improve from one event to the next, and be better teams.”

“This award goes to all the great sailors and crew I’ve had the opportunity to race with this year,” added Benjamin. “I had some incredible team members to help me every step of the way, and perhaps the biggest supporter of them all is my wife, Heidi.”

Steve and Heidi Benjamin’s Carkeek 40, SPOOKIE, had a clean sweep of overall wins in every offshore race they entered in 2015, including Fort Lauderdale to Key West, Marblehead to Halifax, Ida Lewis Distance Race, and the Vineyard Race.

“I’ve been at this a long time, so this is truly an astonishing honor.”

Benjamin, son of a boatyard owner, started sailing at the age of nine when his parents introduced him to the sport through a junior sailing program at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, NY. Benjamin went on to experience an outstanding college sailing career. He earned College Sailor of the Year honors in 1978 as a member of the Yale University sailing team.

Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year – Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) has been named the 2015 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year in recognition of her impressive list of top results in 470 Class competition throughout 2015.

Haeger and crew Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) made their mark on the international stage by winning gold at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They won the event by seven points through 10 races in a highly competitive fleet featuring the gold and silver medal-winning boats from the London 2012 Games.

“Winning gold at the Olympic Test Event was a major confidence booster, and it reinforced that if we can earn US Olympic Team selection we have a chance to medal at the Games.”

Haeger and Provancha experienced success in other high-caliber women’s 470 events, including the European Championship (3rd place) and the South American Championship (4th place).

“Winning this award was never something I was ever expecting or aiming for, since Briana and I have been totally focused on the Olympics,” said Haeger. “To be on a list with so many amazing sailors, and to win this on behalf of my incredible teammate and the US Sailing Team Sperry, is unbelievable. I am just so honored.”

“In winning this award, I’m not representing myself, but Team Haeger/Provancha as a whole. I am very blessed to have Briana in the front of my boat. I think she is the best crew in the United States.” Haeger also noted that her fellow national team athletes have played a prominent role in her development. “Our US Sailing Team Sperry veterans like Stu McNay, Dave Hughes, and Paige Railey have pushed us to improve. They have been so helpful, and we want to represent them well.”

Haeger started sailing at age eight on Lake Beulah in Wisconsin. Coincidentally, she was in the same “Learn to Sail” junior sailing program as the 2014 Yachtswoman of the Year, Stephanie Roble.

In parallel with the Yachtsman of the Year, Steve Benjamin, Haeger was also a tremendously successful college sailor. She was named College Sailor of Year in 2011 and a three-time ICSA Women’s Singlehanded National Champion as a member of the Boston College sailing team.

Steve Benjamin

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Less than 10 days remain until the ultimate maxi showdown in the legendary Sydney Hobart Race. Which monster will come out on top?

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