Tasmanian Sailing Awards 2019 announced
by Peter Campbell 4 Aug 2019 16:27 AEST
3 August 2019
Tasmanian Male Sailor of the Year Sam Tiedemann at the helm of Philosopher in the Bruny Island race - Tasmanian Sailing Awards 2019 © Peter Campbell
The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania last evening hosted the annual Tasmanian Sailing Awards, recognising the contributions to the sport over the past year by successful racing competitors, coaches, race officers, professional administrators, and volunteers from around the State.
In total, 15 awards were presented to members of at least seven different clubs, headed by the prestigious Tasmanian Male and Female Sailors of the Year awards.
The Tasmanian Female Sailor of the Year is Dr Jessie Andrewartha, a member of Wynyard Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, who earlier this year finished first female skipper in the World championship for the International Mirror class.
Jessie, sailing with her father as crew, finished ninth overall in the Worlds and fourth in the Australian Mirror championships in a comeback to sailing after completing her medical degree.
Champion young Hobart keelboat helmsman Sam Tiedemann was named 2018-19 Tasmanian Male Sailor of the Year, culminating a remarkable season of yacht racing.
Steering his father's Shaun Tiedemann's Sydney 36cr, Philosopher, Sam won the Maria, Launceston to Hobart and Bruny Island offshore races and the Combined Clubs IRC pointscore last summer.
Philosopher also won IRC Division 3 of the Australian Yachting Championships on Port Phillip in January and Sam was a member of the winning crew in the SB20 Australian championship.
Fellow Derwent Sailing Squadron member and sometime member of Philosopher's crew, Scott Brain, accepted the award on Sam's behalf.
Youth Sailor of the Year award was decided between five finalists, Eddie Reid, Hugo Allison, Nicholas Jones, Nick Smart and Will Sargent.
Sargent, named as the winner, has had an outstanding range of national and international racing successes over the past year, from winning the Australian Schools Match Racing Championships to the Tasmanian Laser Championship and the Laser bronze medal at the recent Pacific Games.
Offshore Sailor of the Year is Phillip Turner, owner of Alive, the overall winner of the 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and more recently, winning a number of major events on the USA California coast. Scott Brain accepted the award.
Official of the Year is Ian Ross, a National Race Officer and an integral part of the RYCT and DSS race management teams, including the SB20 Nationals and pre-Worlds.
A significant award each year is Volunteer of the Year, this year going Scott Ragg, a member of Kingston Beach Sailing Club, a past president of the Tasmanian Sabot Association and the mainstay of the Tasmanian Laser Dinghy Association when Mersey Yacht Club hosted the Australian and Oceana Laser championships last summer.
His citation commented: 'Has pulled marks, rescued sailors and repaired boats at events across Tasmania and Australia....the volunteers volunteer!'
Wynyard Yacht Club, based in the Inglis River on Tasmania's North-West Coast, and its members dominated the Tasmanian Sailing Awards.
In addition to Jessie Andrewartha's award, Chris Symonds was named Sailor of the Year with Disability, Mike Darby was Coach of the Year and the WYC as Club of the Year.
To culminate the list, a Lifetime Achievement Award was announced to 100-year-old Wynyard Yacht Club member Richard Lewis who has been an active member since 1965....and who still goes sailing.
Other Tasmanian Sailing award winners announced this evening were: Sophie Ciszek, Ocean Respect Racing (Sustainability Award), Gregory Rowsell, Port Dalrymple Yacht Club (Instructor of the Year), Darren Flanagan, Lauderdale Yacht Club (Sport Promotion), Oliver Burnell, Sandy Bay Sailing Club (Sport Professional), Alison Viner, Port Cygnet Sailing Club (SheSails Award).