ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards - Introduction

Launched in 1994, the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards are recognized as the pinnacle award a sailor can receive in recognition of his/her outstanding achievements by the world of sailing.

The Awards are presented to sailors by sailors. Two Awards, one for a female sailor/crew and one for a male sailor/crew, are presented each year during the ISAF Annual Conference in November. The ISAF Annual Conference is a week long series of meetings, which brings together the decision makers in the sport to debate the issues affecting the future of sailing. Sailors selected as nominees for the awards may represent any aspect of the sport.

You will see from the details of past winners that the recipients of the World Sailor of the Year Awards have been drawn from the many diverse disciplines of the sport.

Nominations for sailors may be made by anyone - ISAF Member National Authorities, the national governing bodies for the sport of sailing, Classes, ISAF Committee Members and any other interested parties. A shortlist is then determined from all of those sailor nominated and these select few become the 'Nominees'. It is then over to the world of sailing to determine the winners.

Whilst ISAF notifies the respective male and female winners, their names are not published or announced until the night of the presentation. The winners receive a prestigious award and a Rolex timepiece. In past years the Award has been presented by the ISAF Presidents of Honour, HM King Harald of Norway, HM King Constantine and other renowned sailors.

The Awards Presentation is attended by the worlds top sailors, the leaders in the sport around the world, sponsors and other eminent guests.

2001 saw the announcement of Rolex as the title sponsor, who has joined ISAF in the support of this pinnacle award.

Past Winners

Year	Male	Female
1994	Peter BLAKE (NZL) & Robin KNOX JOHNSTON (GBR)	Theresa ZABELL (ESP)
1995	Russell COUTTS (NZL)	Isabelle AUTISSIER (FRA)
1996	Jochen SCHÜMANN (GER)	Lee-Lai SHAN (HKG)
1997	Pete GOSS (GBR)	Ruslana TARAN & Elena PAKHOLCHIK (UKR)
1998	Ben AINSLIE (GBR)	Carolijn BROUWER (NED)
1999	Mateusz KUSZNIEREWICZ (POL)	Margriet MATTHIJSE (NED)
2000	Mark REYNOLDS & Magnus LILJEDAHL (USA)	Shirley ROBERTSON (GBR)
2001	Robert SCHEIDT (BRA)	Ellen MACARTHUR (GBR)
2002	Ben AINSLIE (GBR)	Sofia BEKATOROU & Emilia TSOULFA (GRE)
2003	Russell COUTTS (SUI)	Siren SUNDBY (NOR)
2004	Robert SCHEIDT (BRA)	Sofia BEKATOROU & Emilia TSOULFA (GRE)
2005	Fernando ECHAVARRI & Antón PAZ	Ellen MACARTHUR (GBR)
2006	Mike SANDERSON (NZL)	Paige RALIEY (USA)