May the best man and woman win!

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
After the pandemic derailed much of the racing calendar in 2020, US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards were put on hold as well, but the honors return to recognize the best from 2021 with five men and four women under consideration.

As a selection committee member of the 2021 Rolex World Sailor of the Year, we were deciding among America’s Cup winners, Olympic gold medalists, World titlists, and Vendee Globe champions. It was a crazy year of premier events with many deserving winners. Definitely a bad year to do well.

That’s how these awards work; grading is on the curve. Some years it’s really hard to be a recipient.

As a past member of the US selection committee, there’s a pecking order of accomplishment for which World titles typically dominate. But equally important is digging into the details to assess the depth and qualify of field for victory. The value of the award is in the difficulty to earn it.

There were a lot of international accomplishments left off the 2021 shortlist:

Augie Diaz – Snipe Western Hemisphere Champion
Peter Duncan – J/70 World Champion
Jeff Progelhof – J/22 World Champion
Ernesto Rodriguez – Snipe European Champ, ILCA 7 Masters World Champ
Tommy Sitzmann/ Luke Woodworth – I420 Men/Mixed World Champions
Daniel Thielman – Melges 20 World Champion
Peter Wagner – J/111 World Champion
David Wood – Youth Match Racing World Champion

Kay Brunsvold/ Cooper Delbridge – Silver at Youth Worlds
Vanessa Lahrkamp/ Katherine McNamara – I420 Women’s World Champions
Charlie Leigh and Sophie Fisher – Silver at Youth Worlds
Charlotte Rose – Silver at Jr Pan Ams, College Singlehanded Champion

There was one world title on the men’s shortlist with the achievements for three of the five men coming mostly from paid crew jobs. Finding facts about crew impact is a new level of stat research, and it makes me wonder who was forgotten in this category. Guys like Victor Diaz de Leon, Michael Menninger, and Willem Van Waay (on 2019 shortlist) come to mind.

Among the women, 2-time watch winner and 5-time Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz stands out in a field that boasts domestic victories and experiences. After Carmen and Emma Cowles won the 2018 award on the strength of their youth achievement, it is curious why the 2021 shortlist didn’t go there as well.

It will not be an easy task when the 2021 nominees are reviewed by a panel of sailing journalists and past winners as the sport is not well equipped to put value on victory, but the return of these awards is a positive sign for sailing. May the best man and woman win!