Winners revealed for Mirabaud Sailing Video Award

French producer Martin Keruzoré (Air Vide et Eau Productions) won the main prize of the 2020 edition of the Mirabaud Sailing Video Award with his video Vues du Large, selected by the international jury. The six members of the Jury voted according to three criteria: originality, quality of the production, and general appreciation.

With so many events in 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19, the 2020 rules were revised to reward the best sailing videos taken since January 1, 2000. Forty videos were submitted representing 17 nationalities for the fourth edition of the competition, with dual awards by public vote and jury selection.

Keruzoré is rewarded for his video summarizing the 70,000 nautical miles he covered around the world onboard different boats: Figaro, Mini 650, Volvo Ocean Race, and Ultim. A world class onboard reporter, Keruzoré decided to recap his last three years in three minutes, and to pay tribute to the women and men who allowed him to film these images.

“Compiling this footage in three minutes was a complicated exercise that took me a long time, but I wanted to show another vision of offshore racing,” he said, summarizing more than 200 days at sea as an onboard reporter. “I took advantage of the quarantine this spring to edit this video.

“The rules of this special edition of the competition, which are not limited to images from the current year, allowed me to submit this video. It’s a great reward to win this contest! The Mirabaud Sailing Video Award is the Festival de Cannes of the sailing industry.”

Keruzoré receives a prize money thanks to the support of our partner Mirabaud, as well as an Alpina watch donated by Skippers magazine.

“It’s the only video I gave a score of 10 on all three criteria,” says Martina Orsini, photographer and member of the Jury. “It isn’t about a single race, but a collection of ocean experiences. The editing, the choice of images, and the music are absolutely perfect. Of all the videos received, Martin’s is the only one that managed to value the images so well. He is excellent and fully deserves this victory!”

Second of the Mirabaud Sailing Video of the Century 2020, Bertrand Duquenne (Bertrand Duquenne Photography) is rewarded for his video 39H about Miranda Merron fulfilling her dream to take part in the Vendée Globe. Sarah Broadbent (Orillo) is third with Harness the Hurricane, which highlights the preparation of Dean Barker and Softbank Team Japan for the America’s Cup 2017 in Bermuda.

The Public Award is determined by the number of votes on the internet, and aims to provide a worldwide visibility to the videos submitted. Artur Sikorski (MikkelGroth.com) won the award for his clip Time Always Wins, which describes the importance of time management during a regatta.

The votes of the public were taken into account at the official closing of the competition on November 12 at noon (CET). A limited number of fraudulent votes were removed, so the final results do not correspond exactly to the ranking that was then on the website. The final tally is accurate and fair.

The 2020 Special Award goes to the production company Nefertiti and its director Hervé Borde, for the astonishing video featuring Alex Thomson and Armel Le Cleac’h during the Vendée Globe 2016-17 in the Southern Oceans.

This video, which has become iconic, shows these boats and sailors as no one has ever seen them before. Filmed with the help of the French army, this video has been viewed by 1,9 million visitors on the MSVA website. It has contributed to the “legend of the Vendée Globe.”

“It’s a nice little story…,” reflects Borde. After having managed to convince Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defense, to send him to film the competitors off the ‘terres australes françaises’ on board an army ship, the film crew (Fulvio d’Aguanno, cameraman and Tanguy Thuaud, editor and Inmarsat manager) embarked for 50 days at sea.

“What a pleasure it has been for us, with Jacques Caraës, Race Director, to discover the images of Armel being chased by Alex and his British flag. He has a great sense of staging, this Englishman!”

All videos from 2020 and previous editions can be viewed on the event website.

For detailed rules, click here.

Source: MaxComm Communication