The World Sailors of the Year are being sought. The World Sailing Association has been organising this election since 1994. Back then, the first winners were Sir Peter Blake, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and the Spanish Olympic champion Theresa Zabell at the top of the podium. They were followed by many heavyweights of international sailing in almost 30 years of the Rolex World Sailing Awards.
27 years ago there was a German World Sailor of the Year
Jochen Schümann was the only German sailor to prevail in the 1996 elections. Back then, he won his third and last Olympic gold medal in the Soling with Thomas Flach and Bernd Jäkel off Savannah. Nobody has won the trophy as often as Great Britain's most successful Olympic champion in sporting history: Sir Ben Ainslie was voted the most successful player in his guild four times in 1998, 2002, 2008 and 2012 after his fourth and final gold medal.
Among the female sailors, six athletes were the best to reach the throne twice. The Dutchwoman Carolijn Brouwer achieved this with the longest time span: in 1998 as an Olympic helmswoman and in 2018 with Marie Riou as the first Ocean Race winner with Charles Caudrelier's Dongfeng Race Team. Greece's Sofia Bekatorou/Emilia Tsulfa (2002/2004), the American Paige Railey (2005, 2006), her compatriot Anna Tunnicliffe (2009, 2011) and the most successful Olympic coxswain Hannah Mills (2016 with Saskia Clark, 2021 with Eilidh McIntyre) from Great Britain have also been successful twice.
Voting is underway!
Voting for this year's top sailing athletes begins today. The public vote ends on 30 October at midnight (UTC). Who will be crowned World Sailor? The award ceremony will take place on 14 November in Málaga, Spain. World Sailing's CEO David Graham said: "This year's nominees come from across the sport of sailing and are very diverse. With so many different disciplines, inspiring personalities and great achievements to honour, selecting the nominees was an incredibly difficult task for the jury, as each and every one of them has a strong case."
Graham continued: "As the shortlists for Rolex World Sailor of the Year and Team of the Year show, our sport can be very proud of the role models we produce: From the boards to the ocean races, heroes are everywhere in sailing. We can also be proud of the huge strides made in sustainability across the sport, from using recyclable materials to extending the life of existing equipment and changing the way events are organised. This year's finalists reflect the impact that sailing can have on regions around the world."
The nominees:
Women
- Betsy Alison: The American showed great courage in her inspirational victory in the Hansa 303 at the Allianz Sailing World Championships, less than a year after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from her hip.
- Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler:With a dominant performance, the Swedish 49er-FX duo secured victory at the Allianz Sailing World Championships in The Hague. They won seven out of 15 races and finished on the podium in five other races.
- Kirsten Neuschäfer: The South African secured her chapter in the history books of sailing when she became the first woman to win the Golden Globe Race single-handedly. During the round-the-world race, she had to manage without modern technology. She also rescued a competitor during the race.
- Lauriane Nolot: Frenchwoman Nolot has shown consistency at the highest level in 2023 with her victories in the newly Olympic Formula Kite at the Sailing World Championships, the Paris 2024 test event, the Princesa Sofía Regatta and the Semaine Olympique Française De Voile.
Men
- Charlie Enright: Enright was the first American to lead a team to victory in The Ocean Race. With 11th Hour Racing, he sailed to victory in The Hague after a rollercoaster ride through races and dramatic events.
- Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken: Lambriex and Van de Werken won the 49er world title for the third time in a row, this time with a one-race lead on home waters at the Allianz Sailing World Championships.The Dutch pair also won 49er gold at the Paris 2024 test event in Marseille with a one-race lead.
- Max Maeder: The teenager from Singapore collected a bag full of medals in 2023, including gold at the Allianz Sailing World Championships, the Asian Games and the Formula Kite Youth World Championships.He is one of the big favourites for the 2024 Olympic sailing regatta off Marseille.
- Tom Slingsby: The most successful sailor of his generation is a sailing jack-of-all-trades, dominating the first three seasons in the SailGP, where he also leads the current season's rankings with Team Australia. Slingsby is a multiple Moth World Champion, Laser Olympic Champion, has already won the America's Cup and is heading for the next one. With American Magic, he has just won the first pre-regatta for the 37th America's Cup in Vilanova.
The nominees for the 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award:
- Biotherm Sailing Team: The Biotherm Sailing Team studied biodiversity by collecting data on board their Imoca yacht using an automated microscope to analyse phytoplankton in little-studied parts of the ocean.
- Club de Vela la Ballena de Alegre: As the host of the 2023 Optimist World Championships, the Club de Vela la Ballena de Alegre has developed a sustainability programme for the event that focuses on the environment. This involved reducing the amount of waste and improving the conservation of biodiversity. Attention was also paid to social aspects through involvement in the community and education.
- Ecoracer Sailing: The Italian shipyard Ecoracer Sailing is the manufacturer of the Ecoracer 30, which is the world's first 100% recyclable production boat. The aim of the creators is to develop a racing series that also aims to highlight the problem of non-recyclable composite materials at the end of a yacht's service life.
- The Magenta Project: The Magenta Project is a world leader in supporting women in sailing and has helped 150 women accelerate their careers in the sailing sport of their choice with its nine-month mentoring programme over the last four years.
Nominated teams of the year:
- Team 11th Hour Racing: The winners of the Ocean Race 2022/2023 have demonstrated all the qualities needed to win a traditional and challenging race around the world. They have also supported a number of initiatives to improve the health of the world's oceans.
- Australia SailGP Team: Under the direction of Tom Slingsby, the Australia SailGP Team won its third title in the third SailGP season. The green and yellows from Down Under won four of the eleven regattas of the season and are once again leading the overall standings of the five million US dollar professional league.
- Bart Lambriex and Floris van de Werken: At the Allianz Sailing World Championships for Olympic sailors, the Dutch won world championship gold in the 49er for the third time in a row at their home event off The Hague. They also dominated the Olympic test regatta off Marseille and will start the 2024 Olympic regatta as favourites.
- Match In Pink Normandy Elite Team: The Match In Pink Normandy Elite Team under the command of Pauline Courtois had an outstanding year, winning the Women's World Match Racing Championship in Denmark, the European Championship in Italy and taking first place in both the Women's World Match Racing Tour in Normandy and the World Sailing Federation's World Ranking.
