ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year nominees announced

by KPMS on 3 Oct 2012 The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex are ecstatic to announce the Nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2012. ISAF received nominations for the 2012 Awards from across the world for sailors representing all aspects of the sport.

The nominees are put forward based on achievements made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012. Only one nominee wins from both the male and female category and the names vying for the coveted and prestigious 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award are:

Male:

Ben Ainslie (GBR) – Finn - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist and 2012 World Champion

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS) – Men’s 470 - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions and 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) – 49er - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists and 2011 and 2012 World Champions

Loick Peyron (FRA) – Outright Around the World Record

Tom Slingsby (AUS) – Laser - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist and 2011 and 2012 World Champion

Female:

Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega and Sofio Toro (ESP) – Women’s Match Racing - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists

Helena Lucas (GBR) – 2.4mR - London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist and 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion

Saskia Sills (GBR) – RS:X - ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion and European Youth Champion

Lijia Xu (CHN) – Laser Radial - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist

The winners are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world. The MNAs are now invited to vote for the male and female nominee they believe most deserves the Award.

The winners will be announced at the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards presentation and dinner, taking place on Tuesday 6 November 2012. The venue for the event is the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland.

Each winner will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

Full profiling of each nominee and their achievements will be available on the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards microsite starting 4 October.