Displaying items by tag: ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year

6th November 2012

ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year for 2012 Announced Tonight

#ISAF - In just a few hours the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex will announce the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year in Dublin.

The award ceremony will take place during a dinner hosted at the historic Mansion House in the heart of the capital, and will be attended by many of the world’s top sailors and delegates to the ISAF Annual Conference taking place in Dun Laoghaire.

This year's winners as always are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who have been invited to vote for one male and one female nominee they believe most deserves the award for their efforts during the nomination period.

This year there are five male and four female nominees who have been shortlisted for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards based on their achievements during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2012.

HM King Constantine, ISAF President of Honour, will announce the winners, each of whom will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

The 2012 nominees are:

Male

Ben Ainslie (GBR) - Finn - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2012 World Champion
Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page (AUS) - Men's 470 - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions & 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) - 49er - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists & 2011 and 2012 World Champions
Loïck Peyron (FRA) - Outright Around the World Record
Tom Slingsby (AUS) - Laser - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2011 and 2012 World Champion

Female

Támara Echegoyen, Ángela Pumariega and Sofía Toro (ESP) - Women's Match Racing - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
Helena Lucas (GBR) - 2.4mR - London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist & 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion
Saskia Sills (GBR) - RS:X - ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion & European Youth Champion
Lijia Xu (CHN) - Laser Radial - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist

Find out more HERE about the nominated sailors and their achievements.

Published in World Sailing

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour