Top honours

The 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award is the highest recognition of success in marine sustainability. The winners receive an iconic trophy, made from recycled carbon fibre sourced from an America’s Cup boat and infused with bio-resin and a $10,000 USD prize to help further their sustainability activities.

The World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award celebrates the effective execution or ongoing delivery of high-impact, highly-replicable sustainability initiatives, aligned to World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030.

Founded by Olympian and IOC Young Leader from Cyprus, Sophia Papamichalopoulos, aims to bridge divides and promote peace by bringing together young people from both sides of Cyprus through the unifying power of the sport of sailing.

Winds of Change stands for fostering dialogue, understanding, and collaboration among youth, empowering them to challenge prejudices and strive for ambitious shared goals. Their motto is to “Challenge | Empower | Inspire | Together”. Winds of Change’s headline achievements include completing the first circumnavigation of Cyprus in 50 years, inspiring youth-led sports-for-peace activities, hosting the inaugural “Olympism for Peace” event in Cyprus, and being referenced in the UN Secretary General’s report on Cyprus.

Winds of Change has directly impacted nearly 2,000 young people and reached 80,000 others indirectly. The initiative was recognised with the “Peace Award” by the Youth Board of Cyprus in 2024, and its documentary premiered during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Winds of Change advances sustainability in sailing by addressing six United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through its unique program, Winds of Change fosters inclusivity, breaks down social barriers, and raises environmental awareness. It promotes peacebuilding, gender equality, good health, and well-being, while adopting practices to reduce carbon footprints and encourage respect for the marine environment. Winds of Change also emphasizes on building partnerships, collaborating with diverse stakeholders to amplify its impact and achieve shared goals.

By setting a standard for sustainable practices in the sailing community, Winds of Change demonstrates that sailing can be a powerful platform for social development, peace promotion, and global collaboration.

Team of the Year

Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti continued to dominate the Nacra 17, adding the Olympic mixed multihull gold to an impressive roster of career successes.

The Italian pair are double Olympic champions in the mixed multihull, after retaining the gold won at Tokyo 2020 at Paris 2024.

They also won the 2024 Nacra 17 World Championship, as well as the Princess Sofia Regatta.

The Team of the Year Award is presented to a crew of two or more sailors from any category of sailing and celebrates teams who personify the sporting values of integrity, ambition, resilience and resourcefulness.

World Sailing Technology Award

Formerly the Boat of the Year Award (2018-2023), the World Sailing Technology Award has been expanded to acknowledge the advancements in racing technology and innovation. The award is presented annually at the World Sailing Awards to celebrate outstanding achievement in the sport.

Northern Lights Composites has pioneered sustainable solutions in boat construction, addressing environmental challenges head-on.

Developer of the “ecoracer,” a winning boat in the Italian Sportboat Championship, the company has collaborated with prestigious shipyards like Grand Soleil and Beneteau to incorporate sustainable technologies into new boat designs as well as patented recyclable composite material addressing the end-of-life issues of fiberglass boats.

Northern Lights Composites tackles one of the biggest environmental challenges in the sailing industry – fiberglass boat waste. Their recyclable composite material offers a solution to boat disposal problems, pushing the industry toward more sustainable practices. By partnering with top-tier shipyards like Grand Soleil and Beneteau, Northern Lights Composites’ technology is helping to drive widespread adoption of eco-friendly construction materials.

Their “ecoracer” boat has already won championships, demonstrating that sustainable technology can also be high-performing, making Northern Lights Composites a pioneer in green sailing innovation.

President’s Development Award

Presented each year, the President’s Development Award recognises those who strive to grow and develop sailing either nationally or internationally. This year’s winner was Hedi Gharbi (TUN) for continued commitment to the growth and development of the sport of sailing. Gharbi, a former Olympic competitor and current president of the Tunisian Sailing Federation, has championed initiatives from grassroots to high-performance levels, helping to elevate the sport’s profile in Tunisia.

Beppe Croce Trophy

World Sailing’s prestigious award, the Beppe Croce Trophy, is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport of sailing.

In memory of Beppe Croce, the World Sailing President from 1969-1986, the Federazione Italiana Vela presented the Trophy to the World Sailing, and it was awarded for the first time in 1988. The honour roll is an impressive one, including multiple Olympic medallists, rules gurus and designers, and all have dedicated an outstanding amount of time to the sport of sailing. Recipients are presented with a replica trophy.

The 2024 winner was Aiko Saito (JPN). Aiko Saito, former Olympic 470 and Europe class sailor and now coach, volunteer and much-loved World Sailing and Japanese Sailing Federation committee member, received a standing ovation at the World Sailing Awards as her name was read out.

She was presented with the Beppe Croce trophy in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the sport to universal agreement at the historic CHIJMES Hall in Singapore.

Aiko represented Japan at the Seoul 88 and Atlanta 96 Olympic Games, and was Team Leader at the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

In particular, it was her work at Tokyo 2020 in which she represented the best of the sport – held at her home club of Enoshima, she worked tirelessly to provide support for all teams, promoting collaboration and fair play and ensuring all athletes got the chance to perform during the challenging circumstances of the pandemic.

Speaking at the World Sailing Awards, Aiko said, “I don’t call it hard work; I just enjoy it. I started sailing internationally in 1978 at the IYRU Women’s Worlds in the Netherlands – and have been to two Olympic Games as a sailor and four as Team Leader, and after that I helped towards sailing activities.

“All of the time it is enjoyable, and I like this sport, so I wanted to give something back to sailing. I am happy to receive this trophy today, and would like to thank everyone I have met in this sport, and of course my mentor Takao Otani. I hope everyone keeps sailing until you get much older, and then are able to give something back.”

For the past eight years and counting, Aiko has volunteered her time to work on World Sailing commissions, committees and working parties – ensuring the needs and interests of coaches and athletes are considered at the highest levels of the sport.

She has also volunteered to support committees and commissions of the Japanese Sailing Federation since 2001.

At Paris 2024, Aiko supported World Sailing by working as the conduit between coaches and the International Federation and Paris 2024, helping both organisations understand the feedback and needs of the teams and the athletes. Aiko also consulted on coach technology and ensuring compliance from coaches with the spirit as well as the letter of the rules.

Presenting the award, double gold-medallist Shirley Robertson OBE described Aiko as “one of the best humans on the planet”, and judging by the reaction to the announcement that she had been chosen as this year’s winner it is hard to disagree.

sailing.org/world-sailing-awards-2024