Australian America’s Cup winner Glenn Ashby in line for major award

by Jane Gordon on 22 Sep 2017 One of Australia’s most successful sailors, Glenn Ashby, who this year skippered Emirates Team New Zealand to victory in the 35th America’s Cup, has been named as a finalist for the prestigious Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award. The Olympic medalist and multiple World and Australian Champion was nominated ahead of an elite field alongside fellow finalists Peter Burling of New Zealand, who was Ashby’s helmsman aboard Team New Zealand, and French long distance sailors Thomas Coville and Armel Le Cleac’h. The winner will be announced at the World Sailing Awards in Mexico on November 7.

In June, Ashby provided the competitive experience behind Team New Zealand’s comprehensive 7-1 win over Oracle Team USA, as well as driving the design team towards formulating a winning product. Australian Sailing President Matt Allen described Ashby as an outstanding sailor with great instinct and “an unbelievable knack for getting the most out of the boat and his crew”.

Ashby won a Silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, is a 15-time World Championship across three multihull classes and is a 10-time Australian A Class champion. He is a dual America’s Cup winner, having served as head coach of BMW Oracle in 2010. He was named Australian Sailing’s Male Sailor of the Year in 2006.

If Ashby wins the Rolex World Sailor of the Year, he will become just the fourth Australian to win the award, after James Spithill (2014), Mat Belcher (2013) and Tom Slingsby (2010).

In the women’s category, Australian Lisa Blair was a nominee for her extraordinary feat of circumnavigating Antarctica solo earlier this year.

For more information see World Sailing.