Meet the Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards winners

The Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards are on next month and some of the winners have already been announced. We'll be profiling them over the next few weeks.

Performance Awards

Conrad Colman – Vendee Globe

Conrad Colman might not have won the Vendee Globe but the fact he finished the race was an illustration of his courage and seamanship. To say Colman confronted a few issues during the non-stop solo circumnavigation of the world is an understatement. Not only did he have a fire on board when a solar panel fried but his auto-pilot got a mind of its own, causing his Imoca 60 to crash gybe about 15 times, his forestay also broke, nearly bringing his mast down in 60 knots of wind, and he was down to just a couple of sails for the last third of the race. He was also tossed overboard in the Southern Ocean during a night time storm when the lazy jacks broke and then fashioned a jury rig after his mast and boom snapped in a storm only three days from the finish. A total of 166 sailors have attempted the race since the first Vendee Globe in 1989. Only 89 have finished. Colman was the first to do it with zero emissions, despite his numerous challenges, and first to finish without a mast. His next challenge is to become the first non-French winner of the Vendee Globe when he lines up for the 2020 edition of the race.

Giacomo, Jim Delegat & Crew – Royal Akarana Yacht Club

Giacomo finished second in line honours behind Perpetual LOYAL in last year's Sydney to Hobart race but won overall, ensuring a Kiwi boat claimed Australia's most prestigious offshore boating trophy, the Tattersall's Cup, for the first time since Sir Peter Blake on board Ceramco New Zealand in 1980. The campaign was a family affair with the Delegat's sons, Nikolas (19), and James — who at 18 was the race's youngest participant last year — being part of the crew and they were joined by the likes of Tony Rae, Brad Jackson and Rob Greenhalgh. The 70-foot boat, which won the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race as Groupama 4, finished inside the 2012 race record by nearly three hours and was only two hours astern of super maxi Loyal, which is 30 feet longer. The Delegates decided to put Giacomo up for sale earlier this year.

Peter Burling – Tauranga Yacht & Powerboat Club

Peter Burling is one of the most remarkable sailors of the modern era and can now add America’s Cup-winning helmsman to his already impressive CV. Soon after achieving this, however, Burling competed in the Moth world championships, collecting a silver at Lake Garda. He achieved this despite having not sailed the class for the past two years (he won the 2015 Moth world title) and very little training in the boat before the regatta started. It showed his love of sailing to choose to spend his time off by competing at a Moth world championships and his unrivalled ability to be able to jump into another different boat again and achieve against a high-quality field.

Ian Wallace – Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club

The Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club would not be as strong as it is today without Ian Wallace. Ian has helped turn Panmure, who were on the verge of folding in 2007 following an arson attack, into a vibrant Laser club. He managed the club rebuild after the fire damage and is presently driving the project to redesign the club’s boat lockers. Panmure presently have 29 club boats members can use. Ian not only helped secure funding for the fleet, coach boats and safety equipment but he also maintains the yachts along with the club facilities and is often found painting over graffiti, maintaining the lockers and clubhouse, and repairing boats and equipment. Ian is also heavily involved in teaching, often leading one of the 12-18 adult learn to sail courses the club run annually or instructing people on how to operate club safety boats. On top of all that, Ian also often provides transport for sailors to attend regattas from Taipa in Northland to Port Ohope.

Scott Leith – Murrays Bay Sailing Club

Scott Leith has been at the forefront of Murrays Bay Sailing Club’s success both on and off the water and of the club’s standing in the local community. The commodore played a leading hand in the relocation and transformation project of the Murrays Bay Sailing Club and the completion of the project saw the club host the Auckland Optimist and Starling championships, the largest and most successful regatta in the club’s history with 350 sailors and more than 150 volunteers. The club have enjoyed some of the their best results in their long history, with multiple national champions in the junior and youth ranks and success at the Rio Olympic, world championships, World Masters Games and America’s Cup. Scott even found the time to train for and then win his class at the World Masters Games. On top of all that, Scott has been one of the driving forces for the past five years behind the Waterwise programme in North Shore schools – he’s a master instructor – and helped bring back the Birdman competition to Murrays Bay.

Dave Anderson - Naval Point Club Lyttelton

Dave Anderson has had two stints as Naval Point Club Lyttelton commodore (his first was from 2004-06) and returned in 2015 at a time of multiple challenges to the club, not least of all the fallout from the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Dave's skills, experience and efforts were major factors in the club's ability to recover from their earthquake issues and he did it at a time of extreme pressure in his work life as a manager of a large construction company involved in the Christchurch rebuild. He was also involved in the the establishment of the Naval Point Marine and Rescue Centre Trust, in co-operation with Canterbury Coastguard, as a vehicle for the future development of aquatic recreation facilities on Lyttelton Harbour, and supported youth sailing as chairman of the Canterbury Yacht Association youth development committee. His input was vital into the establishment of the Naval Point Elliot 6 fleet.

Youth Performance Awards

Sean Herbert – Torbay Sailing Club

Sean Herbert won the under-17 division of the O’pen Bic world championships in Italy in August. The 15-year-old put in a consistently strong performance in a fleet of 132 sailors in the under-17 division, finishing 19 points ahead of his nearest rival. It represents his second world title after he won the under-13 division in 2012. Herbert is also the current national Starling champion, winning the title in May and at the Sir Peter Blake Regatta he was awarded the prestigious trophy as the overall winner for outstanding achievement across all classes and all age groups. Previous winners include Olympic and world champion and America’s Cup winner Peter Burling and two-time Olympic medallist and former world champion Jo Aleh. Herbert has been the form junior sailor over the past 12 months, winning regatta after regatta in all conditions including the North Island, Auckland and Stack Winter championships and was picked to represent New Zealand at the teams racing world championships.

Kate & Greta Stewart – Murrays Bay Sailing Club

Kate and Greta Stewart won bronze in the 29er class at the 2016 Youth Sailing World Championships sailed off Torbay, finishing only one point off second. It was the second bronze the pair won in the class, following on from the 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships in Malaysia. The event is the pinnacle world youth sailing event. Kate and Greta were the only members of the 13-strong New Zealand team at the 2016 Youth Sailing World Championships to win a medal. Kate has since teamed up with Erica Dawson in the larger 49erFX, with the pair finishing an excellent 13th at September’s 49erFX world championships in Portugal in their first world championships regatta together.

Mattias Coutts – Manly Sailing Club

Mattias Coutts held his nerve to narrowly win the under-13 title at the O’pen Bic world championships in Italy. The 11-year-old, who was competing in his first championships event, had to fight hard to protect a narrow lead over the 55-boat fleet going into the final day but closed it out in style with victories in his last two races to edge his nearest rival by four points. Coutts won an impressive six of his 12 races. He followed that up recently by being the youngest competitor at the Yachting New Zealand Youth Trials on his home waters of the Manly Sailing Club, when he competed in the 29er class. Earlier in the year, Mattias was fourth at the O’pen Bic national championships (second under-13) and third overall (first under-13) at the winter championships.