July 21 - 27, 2019: Issue 413

 

Winners Of The 2019 NSW/ACT State Sailing Awards Announced

RPAYC has been recognised again this for the club's Excellence in Sailing credo: FEMALE SAILOR OF THE YEAR: Annie Wilmot & Natasha Bryant,  YOUTH SAILOR OF THE YEAR: Daniel Links, INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR: Niall Powers  ( Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club / The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club), OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR: Richard Slater, SPORT PROMOTION AWARD: Invictus Games Sydney 2018 presented by Jaguar Land Rover (The RPAYC shared with CYCA, MHYC, RSYS) and SPORT PROFESSIONAL: Tom Spithill

July 8, 2019 

The Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club was the big winner of the 2019 NSW/ACT State Sailing Awards, taking out the Club of the Year Award and members Jan Howard and Mary Holly winning the inaugural SheSails Award.

The awards, held at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, showcased the most outstanding achievements by New South Wales and ACT members across the nomination period. The top individual awards for the night went to Middle Harbour Yacht Club/Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's Martin Hill (Male Sailor of the Year) and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club's Annie Wilmot and Natasha Bryant (Female Sailors of the Year).

In handing out the Male Sailor of the Year Award, Vice-Commodore of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club Alister Copley highlighted that in October 2018 Hill won the Etchells World Championship in Brisbane ahead of a 90 plus boat field that included 7 past Etchells world champions, numerous champions from other classes and several Olympians.

Copley went on to also praise the work of Jan Howard and Mary Holly following their win of the inaugural SheSails Award.

"Jan and Mary have been instrumental to the NCYC womens sailing since 2010," he said. 

"Thanks to their work in promoting sailing to women by 2014, almost 50% of crew in NCYC Twilight races were women, 25% of Sunday point score race crew were female, and a NCYC all-female crew competed at Airlie Beach Race Week (ABRW).

"By 2019, over 200 women had graduated from a NCYC sailing program."

Michael Fletcher was a popular winner of the Coach of the Year Award, still giving to the sport through his efforts this year as the NSW YST 29er coach where his sailors achieved overall wins in the NSW Youths, Australian 29er Championships and Australian Youth Championships as well as 5th overall in the 29er World Championships.

Manly 16' Skiff Sailing Club's Niall Powers took out the Instructor of the Year Award for his work launching the Learn to Sail programme at the club. The program was highly successful in converting new learn to sail students into a green fleet and racing program.

The awards ceremony also included a moving presentation of Barrenjoey Pins to a list of sailing legends by to two-time Olympian Sir James Hardy. The Barranjoey Pin is awarded to athletes who have achieved the Australian Sailing Team standard or similar, dating back to our Australia's first Olympic representatives at the 1948 Olympic Games.

The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club also had a great night, boasting four winners from amongst its' ranks. Richard Slater was recognised as Official of the Year Award, Tom Spithill won the Sports Professional Award, Daniel Links the Youth Sailor of the Year Award and Wilmot and Bryant taking out the aforementioned Female Sailor of the Year.

The host club's Matt Allen won the Offshore Sailor of the Year Award, Woollahra’s Gaye Rosen and Martin Gill won the Volunteer of the Year and Dobroyd Aquatic Club’s Sarah Plunkett won Sailor of the Year with a Disability.

See below for the full list of winners. 

Finalists for the Coach of the Year Award were:
Michael Fletcher -New South Wales Institute of Sport
Tristan Brown -New South Wales State Coach
Robert Brewer -New South Wales Optimist Association
Winner: Michael Fletcher - New South Wales Institute of Sport
 
Finalists for the Instructor of the Year Award were:
Niall Powers - Manly 16’ Skiff Sailing Club
Wayne Loder - Chipping Norton Lakes Sailing Club
Orla Gray - YMCA Canberra Sailing Club
Nina Long - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Winner: Niall Powers - Manly 16’ Skiff Sailing Club


Niall Powers

 
Finalists for the Official of the Year Award were:
Richard Slater - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Ted Anderson - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Ian Humphries - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Ian Kingsford-Smith - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Winner:  Richard Slater - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club


Richard Slater

Finalists for the SheSails Award were:
Jan Howard and Mary Holly - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Bethany Sherry - Belmont 16ft Sailing Club
Deborah Dalziel - Middle Harbour Yacht Club
Clare Alexander - Double Bay Sailing Club
Winner: Jan Howard and Mary Holly - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
 
Finalists for the Sports Professional Award were:
Tom Spithill - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Pam Scrivenor - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Carl Webster - Australian Sailing
Winner: Tom Spithill - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club


Tom Spithill 

Finalists for the Sports Promotion Award were:
Invictus Games Regatta Organisers - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Middle Harbour Yacht Club, RANSA and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Mark Rothfield - Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Nic Douglass - Jervis Bay Sailing Club
Deborah Wallace - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Winner: Invictus Games Regatta


Invictus Games Regatta Organisers

 
The Finalists for Volunteer of the Year were:
Gaye Rosen & Martin Gill - Woollahra Sailing Club
Alison Blatcher - Tweed Valley Sailing Club
Trevor Hannah - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Philip Clinton - Middle Harbour Yacht Club
Mark Mayne - Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Skiff Club
Alistair Cross - Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club
Douglas Murchison - RANSA
Stan Bland - Woollahra Sailing Club
Joyce Warn - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Winner: Gaye Rosen and Martin Gill - Woollahra Sailing Club
 
Finalists for Youth Sailor of the Year were:
Daniel Links - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Archie Cropley & Max Paul - Middle Harbour Yacht Club
Zoe Dransfield & Pearl Twomey - Manly 16’ Skiff Sailing Club
Ryan Littlechild & Jack Ferguson - RSYS/Woollahra Sailing Club
Brooke Wilson - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Will Cooley & Bec Hancock - RSYS / Woollahra Sailing Club
Grae Morris - Woollahra Sailing Club
Capbell Patton - Double Bay Sailing Club
Otto Henry - Woollahra Sailing Club
Winner: Daniel Links - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club


Daniel Links

 
Finalists for Offshore Sailor of the Year were:
Stacey Jackson - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Squadron
Matthew Allen - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Robert Cox - Middle Harbour Yacht Club
Shane Gaddes - Canberra Yacht Club
Winner: Matthew Allen - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
 
Finalists for Sailor of the Year with a Disability were:
Sarah Plunkett - Dobroyd Aquatic Club
David Pescud - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Allister Peek - Canberra Yacht Club
Jason Elwes - Sailability New South Wales
Winner: Sarah Plunkett - Dobroyd Aquatic Club
 
The finalists for Female Sailor of the Year were:

Annie Wilmot & Natasha Bryant - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Jessica Grimes - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Clare Costanzo - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Karyn Gojnich - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Winner: Annie Wilmot and Natasha Bryant - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club


Tash and Annie were OS, Sailing! Their aunt picked up their award for them

 
The finalists for Male Sailor of the Year were:
Martin Hill - Middle Harbour Yacht Club/ Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Jason Waterhouse - Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
David Chapman - Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Thomas Quick - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Winner: Martin Hill - Middle Harbour Yacht Club/ Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
 
The finalists for NSW & ACT Club of the Year were:

Lane Cove 12ft Skiff Sailing Club
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia
Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club
Winner: Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
 
Lifetime Achievement Award 
Winner: Timothy Cox

Winners from the Club of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Coach of the Year, Official of the Year and Instructor of the Year will now automatically be nominated for this year's Australian Sailing Awards, to be held at the Sofitel Sydney, Darling Harbour on Friday 18 October. 

Bryant Wilmot Sailing - July 12, 2019:

Last week we competed in the 49erFX Junior (Under 23) World Championships in Risor, Norway.

We realised after the the European Championships that we needed a bit more hard racing. We never intended to do this event, it was a last minute decision to attend. 

With all of our race equipment in containers en route to Japan we had to rely on a charter boat, training rig, old sails and no coach. If we wanted to make life hard, this couldn’t have been any harder!

This regatta was like no other. The sailing was fully immersed in the town. We rigged on the roads and temporary launch ramps were placed in the centre of the city! 

Most of the week we raced offshore with some pretty hectic conditions and are stoked to discover that our training at home has produced some big gains in the wind and waves. The regatta was good practice for Japan! 

We had some really great races, and some not so great ones. Results weren’t the reason we went to Norway, we had some specific areas we wanted to focus on however we are thrilled to have finished in 4th overall and often amongst the leaders. 

Now that we are back at home we are going to quickly re-group and keep moving forward with our training as we lead into our next trip to Japan in a few weeks time!

NB: the girls are referring to the Japan Olympic test event this August.

In Risor, Norway!