Voting closed for ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year

by Courtesy ISAF on 29 Oct 2004 Voting to decide the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year closed on 25 October at 17.00 UTC.

The voting was undertaken amongst the 115 ISAF Member National Authorities, with the Awards Presentation to honour the one female sailor/team and one male sailor/team who win the accolade of ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2004 taking place on 9 November 2004.

The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards recognise and honour the outstanding achievements of sailors across the spectrum and the criteria for nomination for 2004 was ‘outstanding achievement’ in the period 1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004.

With the pinnacle regatta of the period being the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition, the nominees for 2004 include all of the Olympic Gold medallists, plus sailors from the world of match racing and offshore sailing.

The calibre of the nominated sailors is phenomenal and the incredible variety of their achievements has lead to a tight race in the voting. Nominees are:

Male

Ben AINSLIE (GBR)

Ed BAIRD (USA)

Paul FOERSTER & Kevin BURNHAM (USA)

Steve FOSSETT (USA)

Gal Fridman (ISR)

Torben GRAEL & Marcelo FERREIRA (BRA)

Roman HAGARA & Hans Peter STEINACER (AUT)

Francis JOYON (FRA)

Robert SCHEIDT (BRA)

Female

Sofia BEKATOROU & Emilia TSOULFA (GRE)

Adrienne CAHALAN (AUS)

Faustine MERRET (FRA)

Shirley ROBERTSON, Sarah WEBB & Sarah AYTON (GBR)

Siren SUNDBY (NOR)

The winners will not be announced until the night of the Awards Presentation on 9 November in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The evening will be attended by the World Sailor of the Year nominees and other international sailors, the leaders in the sport from around the world, sponsors, media and other eminent guests.

The winners will be presented with the coveted ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Trophy and a Rolex timepiece.

ISAF welcomes all to attend the Awards Presentation and tickets are available to purchase via the Official Ticket Order Form at: http://www.sailing.org/worldsailor/2004/ticketbookingform.pdf

The Awards Presentation takes place during the ISAF Annual Conference, which is a week long series of meetings, bringing together the decision makers of the sport to debate the issues affecting the future of sailing. For more information about the ISAF Annual Conference please visit www.sailing.org/meetings/2004november/default.asp

Sailing Awards: www.sailing.org/worldsailor