Honours: Tom Slingsby and Kirsten Neuschäfer are World Sailors of the Year
Tatjana Pokorny
· 15.11.2023
Tom Slingsby is World Sailor of the Year. For the third time after 2010 and 2021, the Australian, who also holds American citizenship, was voted the best of his guild. The 39-year-old is not only top in one discipline, but is considered the most versatile dominator in the sport of sailing. In May, the popular figure with the Australian SailGP team won the professional league for the third time in a row and one million US dollars in prize money.
Superstar Slingsby: The Australian is a SailGP dominator and strong America's Cup contender
In September, coxswain Tom Slingsby and the US team NYYC American Magic won the first pre-regatta for the 37th edition of the World Cup. America's Cup which will be held off Barcelona in the autumn. The 2012 Laser Olympic Champion, five-time Laser World Champion and two-time Moth Champion has also won the America's Cup once before.
In the 34th America's Cup, Tom Slingsby, together with England's sailing superstar Sir Ben Ainslie, was placed alongside the hitherto hapless Jimmy Spithill in the final as a replacement duo for Oracle Team USA. With legendary consequences: The greatest comeback in Cup history followed, as the US team turned a 1:8 deficit into a 9:8 Cup victory for the Americans against Emirates Team New Zealand before San Francisco in 2013. In terms of both the number of races and the number of racing days, it was the longest duel in Cup history - with the Slingsby factor.
Slingsby best in the world for the third time
Commenting on his third World Sailor of the Year award, which was determined by a jury vote and a public vote, Tom Slingsby said: "I feel very honoured to be in this position. When I've won this award before, it's been after a Laser or Moth world title, but this time it was all about sailing with teams."
On next year's America's Cup summit with the Americans, Tom Slingsby announced with a smile: "American Magic has had a tough journey so far with its America's Cup campaign, but it feels like we're really turning over a new leaf. And there are really exciting things to come." Slingsby's feats include team success with the Australia SailGP team: "I'm competing with some of my oldest and best friends. I'm so lucky to be able to sail with them. I would be nothing without these guys behind me."
The record winner of the World Sailor of the Year award remains Sir Ben Ainslie, who has been honoured four times since 1998. In 1996, Jochen Schümann was the only German sailor to be honoured after winning his third Olympic gold medal in the American waters of Savannah. Sir Peter Blake and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston had won the first award in 1994.
Kirsten Neuschäfer sailed around the world into the history books
South African Kirsten Neuschäfer was voted Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2023. She catapulted herself into the sailing history books as the first woman to win the Golden Globe Race as a soloist. The participants in the round-the-world race had to make do without modern technology. During her irresistible run, Kirsten Neuschäfer saved a competitor. She was unable to attend the Rolex World Sailor of the Year award ceremony in Malaga.
Many thanks to everyone who believed in me and cheered me on" (Kirsten Neuschäfer)
Nevertheless, the message conveyed by the 42-year-old from Port Elizabeth was well received. Kirsten Neuschäfer said: "It's an incredible honour to be nominated amongst such amazing, celebrated and iconic female sailors. But to win this award, to be recognised by such an esteemed jury and by the public means so much to me. Thank you to everyone who believed in me and cheered me on."
Charly Enright's 11th Hour Racing was voted Team of the Year. The Americans won the Ocean Race in the summer after a stumbling start, a strong comeback and a dramatic finale. It was skipper Charly Enright's first Ocean Race victory, which he was able to celebrate with his team in the finishing harbour of Genoa after a thrilling rollercoaster ride.
Strong in pink: the sustainability award goes to the Magenta project
This year's 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award was won by the Magenta Project. Over the past four years, the world's leading campaign to promote women in sailing has helped 150 women to accelerate their careers in their chosen field of sailing with nine-month mentoring programmes.
The new AC40 racers, which are causing a furore in the America's Cup as training, test and racing boats in the pre-regattas and are very popular with the sailors, were voted Boat of the Year. The futuristic foilers developed by the New Zealand Cup defenders and sailed by four players each could soon make a career for themselves with their own racing series. Next year, they will also be used in the Youth America's Cup and the Puig Women's America's Cup, in which two German teams are taking part.
Development prize for the Andrew Simpson Foundation
The President's Development Award went to the Andrew Simpson Foundation. The foundation was established in memory of Olympic champion and America's Cup sailor Andrew "Bart" Simpson, who died aged just 37 on 9 May 2013 in San Francisco while training with the Swedish America's Cup team Artemis Racing. The foundation endeavours to change lives through sailing. The foundation has been working for more than a decade to build and strengthen a connected, accessible and inclusive community of sailors around the world.
