Press Release
13-12-2007: Countdown to winners for top yachting awards, Leicestershire youth, Michael Wood, up for award
December 2007 – Winners of the Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year and Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year will be announced during the Collins Stewart London Boat Show, January 2008.
Finalists in the young sailor category include Alistair Masters, an RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Youth Squad 16 year old who has dominated domestic and international competition in the Techno 293 junior windsurfing class, and has won two gold medals and one silver at the last three world championships; Holly Scott, winning crew member of Mirror World Championship 2007, who with her skipper (Anna Mackenzie), was the first all-girl team to win the title; Tom Gillard, the first RYA Team GBR sailor to win the 420 European Championships in Medemblik; Laurence Greenough, who has overcome adversity to enter the RYA South West Topper Zone Squad; and Topper World Champion Michael Wood, who devotes hours of his private time to train other youngsters in the RYA West Zone Squad, whilst pushing hard for a place in the ISAF Youth World teams for 2008 as a top National Youth Squad sailor in his own right.
Michael, a pupil at Lutterworth Grammar School and Community College, had his first introduction to boats when he was eight at Center Parcs when there was a shortage of bikes.
This year he was crowned Topper World Champion, after competing against 170 other sailors in Italy. While in the middle of a Topper campaign, Mike also campaigned in the two-handed 29er dinghy, coming second in the German Youth Championships. He is due to take part in the 29er World Championships in Melbourne in January next year and his goal is to be selected for the Olympics.
Throughout all his competitions, Mike has worked as a volunteer for the last three years coaching the Leicestershire and Rutland Youth sailing team and assisting at regattas as Race Officer.
Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year finalists include disabled sailor Geoff Holt, who sailed around the UK single handed; Skandia Team GBR members, World and Pre Olympic Champions Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson; Mike Golding who risked his own life to rescue a fellow competitor in the Velux 5 Oceans race; and Sir Robin Knox Johnston who completed the Velux 5 Oceans race at the age of 68, thirty-eight years after his original (the first) solo circumnavigation of the world.
Winners of both awards will be voted for by the Yachting Journalists’ Association (YJA). Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year will be announced at the awards ceremony on Tuesday 15 January 2008 at The Painted Hall, the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
The Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year will be announced at 4.00pm, Saturday 12 January at the Collins Stewart London Boat Show on the Main Stage. RYA Regional Winners will also be presented with their awards at this ceremony.
RYA Regional Winners include:
Yorks and Humberside Tom Gillard
Northern Ireland Tiffany Brien
North West Rob Partridge
East Katrina Curtis
South Chris West
Wales – Joint Winners Bleddyn Mon
Wales – Joint Winners Tom Humphries
North East Michael Matthews
Scotland Ben Wilcox
East Midlands George Hand
South East Chloe Martin
South West Laurence Greenough
Thames Valley Imogen Stanley
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
• The Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year award is open to any British resident or passport holder who has made an outstanding achievement under sail or power during 2007. Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year awards British youngsters aged 18 and under (as at 31 December 2007), in possession of a British passport (or are immediately eligible to receive a British passport), who have made a significant impact on youth sailing.
• Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year award was initiated in 1955 by Sir Max Aitken and now bears the names of the greatest achievers in British yachting circles over the past five decades. Previous winners include Eric Hiscock, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Sir Chay Blyth, Sir Edward Heath and Tracy Edwards, together with Dame Ellen MacArthur and Ben Ainslie who have both won the award twice.
• Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year receives the prestigious Yachtsman of the Year trophy, a silver navigation buoy mounted on a sea of crystal, which was commissioned by the late Sir Max Aitken.
• Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year award was first presented in 1993. Early winners include Dame Ellen MacArthur and Ben Ainslie - who both went on to win the Yachtsman of the Year title.
• The winners of both awards are nominated by the public and elected by the votes of the Yachting Journalists’ Association (YJA).
• In addition to votes from members of the public for Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year, over 1,700 RYA affiliated clubs have the opportunity to nominate. Plus, the RYA puts forward winners from each of its 13 regions as nominations for the Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year.
• Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year receives a trophy and Raymarine goodies.
• Raymarine is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of marine electronics for the recreational marine market.
For further information contact Chloe Bartle UK Marketing Coordinator, +44 (0)23 9269 3611 Ext. 1395 or chloe.bartle@raymarine.com or Gemma Sweet at ADPR, Tel +44 (0)1460 241641 or Fax +44 (0)1460 242719 or by email at gemma@adpr.co.uk.
For high res images: Please contact Chloe Bartle at Raymarine (023 9269 3611 x1395 – chloe.bartle@raymarine.com) for a password to Raymarine’s Asset Management System (AMS). This provides access to all Raymarine images and product data.
December 2007 (RM477)