Yachtsman of the Year: tough call
The 2016 boats.com YJA Yachtsman of the Year winner is going to be a tough decision says Gael Pawson.
December 21, 2015
As a member of the Yachting Journalists' Association, I got to cast my vote to decide the winners of this year's boats.com YJA Yachtsman of the Year and Young Sailor of the Year Awards, but I can't say it was an easy decision and I wouldn't want to put money on the result!
An empty Trinity House, which will be packed for the boats.com YJA Yachtsman of the Year Awards in January.
All three shortlisted candidates are well worthy of the title. Giles Scott, having just gone and secured yet another world title in the Finn class is such a dominant force, unbeaten as well since 2013. Then we have Ian Williams, who seems to be forever the bridesmaid at the awards, having missed out in Olympic years to Olympic gold medallists, or other one-off achievements. His record in the match racing arena is spectacular and 2015 delivered yet another world title. Surely this should be his year? I certainly predicted it, right back at the beginning of 2015. But then you have Ian Walker. The first Brit to win the Volvo Ocean Race. An outstanding achievement for a man whose Volvo Ocean racing career started as a true rookie who had barely been offshore three races ago. Suddenly the winner seems less obvious.
When it comes to the boats.com YJA Young Sailor of the Year title, the choice is just as tough and I don't mind admitting that I took a while to decide which way my vote should go. Three very talented youngster in Jack Lewis, Eleanor Poole and Cameron Tweedle didn't give an obvious winner (see Yachtsman of the Year shortlist announced). The only thing that is certain is that the result will be close.
The Awards event
The winner of the boats.com YJA Yachtsman of the Year will be unveiled at a lunch at Trinity House in London. I keep finding myself referring to the event as a dinner, as lunch doesn't really cover a top-notch three-course meal in splendid surroundings attended by the great and the good of yachting and powerboating together with the country's top journalists and editors (see Inspiring company at Yachtsman of the Year Awards).
For the editors and journalists working in the sailing and powerboating field, it's a wonderful opportunity to catch up with each other, swap stories of the year that's gone and look ahead to the highlights to come in the new year. It's rare to find so many boating journalists in one place, the conversation would be pretty boring for anyone who doesn't like boats! Former winners of the award include the likes of Keith Musto, Rodney Pattisson, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Sir Ben Ainslie, Sam Davies, Shirley Robertson and Sir Robin Knox Johnston to name just a few. Many of the former winners will be in attendance, especially with this year being the event's Diamond Jubilee year.
We'll bring you news of the winners as soon as we can on January 12th, our social team will be sharing regular updates on twitter and Facebook and you can be sure of the full story on the site.
