Please select your home edition
Edition
Switch One Design

Sail-World Journalist Wins Seamanship Award

by Des Ryan on 21 Nov 2007
Ted Nobbs and Nancy Knudsen, crew of Australian yacht Blackwattle BW Media
One of Sail-World's seven world-wide editors has won a coveted annual seamanship award. Cruising Editor Nancy Knudsen with her husband Ted Nobbs on their yacht Blackwattle had just completed a five year circumnavigation, arriving back into Australia two weeks ago, when they learned of the award.

The Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) has awarded them the OCC's Australian Trophy, for 'A Voyage of Merit to or from Australia.', and the award has been made primarily to recognise an incident that occurred half way across the Atlantic Ocean during the 2006 Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

In part the Award reads 'They exhibited the qualities of seamanship and the brotherhood of the sea by selflessly and at some personal risk assisting a vessel in distress during the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, crossing from Horta to the West Indies.'

At the time another Australian yacht, Mary Constance, with Mike and Jocelyn Franklin and their two daughters Pippa (7) and Justine (5) on board, had lost both lower shrouds and were in danger of losing their mast while still 1300 nautical miles from shore. The crew on Blackwattle transferred one replacement shroud to the other boat and then escorted them across the Atlantic

Of the award, Ted Nobbs said, 'Of course we are very proud that the OCC has seen fit to give us this award, but we only did what any other cruising sailor would do.'

Nancy added, ' You've got to understand that when you are cruising in remote places, whether it is in remote islands, the middle of an ocean or the Red Sea, the spirit among long range cruising sailors is fantastic. We have seen – and received - the most amazing acts of assistance and sacrifice in our years of cruising – ours was very small really in the scheme of things. I think we should be accepting the award in recognition of that spirit, which is very much alive and well and I trust it always will be.'

The award was presented at a glittering function at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Sydney last Friday evening.

The couple, who are currently sailing south down the east coast of Australia were unable to be present, and the award, which was presented by the Rear Commodore of the OCC John de Launey, was accepted on their behalf by well known Sydney sailor Graham Evans.

Graham commented, ' I have been involved both as a competitor and administrator of many ocean races such as the Hobart, the Kenwood Cup, the Noumea and so on, most of which started as ‘passage races, but which have evolved into dangerous macho sprints that often see 1/3 of the fleet retiring with broken gear, broken bones, queasy stomachs and low morale, even bad seamanship as we saw in the 1998 Hobart.

'It is therefore an added pleasure to have been asked to accept on behalf of Ted and Nancy this award celebrating their old fashioned courage, seamanship and sense of adventure.'
Palm Beach Motor YachtsPredictWind - Routing 728x90 BOTTOMCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTER

Related Articles

The Philadelphia Cup Regatta preview
There's still time to register Sail on or spectate along the Delaware River this Saturday, at The Philadelphia Cup Regatta presented by Sea Philly and the Independence Seaport Museum.
Posted today at 10:43 am
Melges 15 Fittings Guide
A breakdown of the fittings based on a complete Allen Brothers fit-out If you are looking to upgrade or replace the hardware on your Melges 15, it helps to know exactly which fittings you need and what their role is on the boat.
Posted today at 7:30 am
Fortaleza World Sailing Championships announced
Test event in January 2026, and the real thing in January 2027 World Sailing has confirmed the dates for Fortaleza 2027 World Sailing Championships as 22-30 January 2027, with a Test Event being held one year prior.
Posted today at 6:40 am
All set in Trieste for the Melges 24 Worlds
Racing set to begin at Yacht Club Adriaco The countdown is nearly over. In just a few hours, the Yacht Club Adriaco will oversee the start of one of the most eagerly awaited international sailing events of the season.
Posted today at 4:41 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 1
Wind gods fail to deliver in Oyster Bay, NY Sadly day one of the 2025 Six Metre World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (SCYC) proved to be a non-starter as the wind failed to make an appearance.
Posted today at 12:51 am
International One Design World Championship
Northeast Harbor, Maine, hosts IOD fleet The 2025 world championship for the International One-Design class (IOD) was a 6-day series this year, hosted by the Northeast Harbor Fleet (Northeast Harbor, Maine), in early September.
Posted on 22 Sep
52 Super Series Porto Cervo practice race
The loss of the last 'dress rehearsal' is something of a disappointment Although there was just enough breeze to execute a couple of meaningful practice starts, the breeze dropped away and thereafter proved insufficient to allow the planned two short official practice races to be sailed today off Porto Cervo.
Posted on 22 Sep
Materials That Make the Difference
Discover the performance fabrics behind the Henri-Lloyd AW25 collection Discover the performance fabrics behind our AW25 collection. This season, Henri-Lloyd has focused on advanced, responsibly sourced materials designed to thrive in demanding coastal conditions.
Posted on 22 Sep
Teams are go for 2025 Six Metre World Championship
29 boats registered and ready to race Registration is now complete and 29 teams from ten nations are ready to race for the 2025 Six Metre World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island Sound.
Posted on 22 Sep
2025 Dutch Water Week overall
From experiment to future The Dutch Water Week concluded today with the pilot finals of the Sailing Grand Slam (SGS).
Posted on 22 Sep