Issue date
The 2019 Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards are just around the corner and some winners have already been announced. In the third of a three-part series, meet the winners in the performance category.
Performance Awards supported by Zhik
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke - Royal Akarana Yacht Club
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke won the Olympic test event. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
Pete and Blair made a successful return to Olympic class sailing after a couple of years off due to the America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Race. They won the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta in their first event back and were third at the World Cup Series in Genoa but, most significantly, won the two biggest events of the year - the 49er European championships and then the Olympic test event in Japan
Logan Dunning Beck & Oscar Gunn - Wakatere Boating Club, Murrays Bay Sailing Club
Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn claimed their first big international title in 2019. Photo: Sailing Energy.
Logan and Oscar enjoyed a breakthrough win at Kiel Week, their first big victory together on the international 49er circuit. A strong 49er fleet lined up at one of the world's biggest regattas and the pair handled the pressure well given nine of the 10 crews lining up for the medal race could have won gold. The pair were also in contention at various other regattas over the last 12 months and also triumphed at the 49er national championships against a strong local lineup.
George Gautrey - Muritai Yacht Club
George Gautrey was third at the Laser world championships. Photo: Junichi Hirai / Bulkhead Magazine.
George had a breakthrough year in 2019, highlighted by his bronze medal at this year's Laser world championships in Japan. He started the year with top-10 finishes at both the Hyeres regatta and Laser Europeans in the highly competitive class and it all came together at the world champs. What made it remarkable was the fact George dislocated his knee midway through the regatta but battled on despite the pain.
Knots Racing (Nick Egnot-Johnson, Sam Barnett, Bradley McLaughlin, Zak Merton & Tim Snedden) - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Match Race Germany was Knots Racing's first win at a grade 1 event.
If 2018 was good for Knots Racing, 2019 has been even better. The match racing specialists won three regattas overseas, including their first grade 1 title at Match Race Germany, and were second at three others. They turned heads with their performances at this year's Congressional Cup, where they were fifth, and recently claimed their first New Zealand match racing title. It all means skipper Nick Egnot-Johnson is now a career-high second on the world match racing rankings.
David McDiarmid, Matt Steven & Bradley Collins - Royal Akarana Yacht Club
David McDiarmid, Matt Steven & Bradley Collins won the JJ Giltinan Trophy for a second time. Photo: Live Sail Die.
David, Matt and Brad have established themselves as the world's best 18-foot skiff sailors after winning the JJ Giltinan Trophy for a second time. This time around, however, they dominated the fleet on Sydney harbour, winning five races and finishing second in two and fourth in the other. The trio, who were joint winners of last year's Volvo Yachting Excellence Awards Sailor of the Year trophy, will be going for a three-peat at next year's event.
Alex Maloney & Molly Meech - Royal Akarana Yacht Club
Alex Maloney and Molly Meech collected silver medals at three regattas in 2019. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
Alex and Molly have enjoyed another consistently good 12 months, claiming silver medals at the World Cup Series regattas in Miami and Enoshima and Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma. They were also fourth at both the 49erFX European championships and Olympic test event and ended the year as the world's second-ranked 49erFX combination.
Andy Maloney - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Andy Maloney celebrates his second placing at the Finn European championships. Photo: Robert Deaves.
Andy Maloney has established himself as one of the world's best in the relatively unfamiliar Finn class. The former Laser sailor started the year by winning the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma and then backed it up with second at the Finn Europeans, first at the World Cup Series final in Marseille and fourth at the Olympic test event in Japan.
Sam Meech - Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club
Sam Meech collected medals at three regattas in 2019. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
Sam Meech started the year as the world's top-ranked Laser sailor and he continued to excel in 2019, finishing second at the World Cup Series in Miami, Hyeres Regatta and Laser European championships and he was just out of the medals at the Laser world championships. Remarkably, Sam hasn't finished any worse than sixth at any Laser regatta in more than two years, which is a phenomenal achievement in what is arguably the most competitive of all the Olympics classes.
Phil Robertson - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
Phil Robertson, left, celebrates winning the World Match Racing Tour world title in Sweden. Photo: Drew Malcolm / WMRT.
Phil Robertson has been at the top of his game for some time and enjoyed more success in 2019. He teamed up with fellow Kiwis Stew Dodson and Will Tiller, as well as Australia's James Wierzbowski, to win his second World Match Racing Tour world title in Sweden. He also skippered the China team to a meritorious third in the inaugural SailGP and was 10th at the A Class world championships.
Dave Shaw - Nelson Yacht Club
Dave Shaw was second at the A Class world championships. Photo: guppypix.com.
Dave Shaw overcame a broken rudder early in the regatta to claim silver at the A Class world championships in Weymouth. The Nelson sailor broke his rudder in the opening race of the event but recovered well and posted a series of consistently impressive results in the second half of the regatta, never finishing outside the top four.
Dan Slater - Wakatere Boating Club
Dan Slater started the year by winning the OK Dinghy world title. Photo: Robert Deaves.
Dan Slater enjoyed a terrific record at world championships regattas in 2019. He started the year by finishing on top in a fleet of 110 sailors at the the OK Dinghy world championships at the Wakatere Boating Club and backed it up as tactician onboard Legacy (formerly KZ5) at the 12m world championships in Newport. On top of that, he was second at the 8m world championships in Cowes when he was also tactician.
See more on the Youth Performance winners here
And more on the Service Awards and Cruising Award winners here
