Coach of the Year
2023-24 Rafael Trujillo
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Rafa swooped in to lead the Australian Sailing Team ILCA7 crew, inheriting the helm from the legendary supercoach Michael Blackburn. Not only did he polish Matt Wearn's skills post long-Covid to win the golden victory in Paris, but Rafa also guided other crew members to top ten triumphs at major global showdowns. Talk about steering the most triumphant Olympic team across all nations in the toughest class this past year!
2022-23 Ben Durham
Ben Durham has produced some impressive results over the past few years. In 2023, Durham continued coaching the Australian Sail GP Team who had another outstanding season, finishing first overall in the third Season of Sail GP. A major focus of this season for him was coaching the female athletes through the Women’s Pathway Program, with Durham helping to integrate Nina Curtis, Tash Bryant and Lucy Copeland to the team.
2021-22 Ben Durham
A highly sought-after coach world-wide, Ben Durham has produced some impressive results on the international circuit – all the while continuing to contribute at the grass roots level. With Ben at the coaching helm, the Australia SailGP Team had an outstanding season, finishing first overall in Sail GP’s third season.
2020-21 Michael Blackburn
Michael Blackburn created Olympic history by coaching Matt Wearn to Gold in the laser class, the third consecutive win in the class for Michael as a coach with three different sailors (Tom Slingsby, Tom Burton, Matt Wearn).
2019-20 Michael Blackburn
Michael proved once again that he is truly one of the best sailing coaches in the world by leading his laser squad to some of the best results ever seen by a team in the class. During the reporting period, Blackers coached the World #1 and World #2 ranked sailors (Tom Burton and Matt Wearn) as well as a number of developing athletes including Luke Elliott, Finn Alexander and Mitch Kennedy. Wearn went on to win the Australian Laser Championships and finish second at the 2020 Laser World Championships in Melbourne.
2018-19 Michael Blackburn (AST/NSW)
Dual Laser Class Olympian-turned coach, Michael Blackburn, has continued to excel in the world of high performance sport. The results of Tokyo-bound Olympian Matt Wearn and Rio Olympic Laser gold medallist Tom Burton, in particular prove Michael's outstanding coaching ability and influence.
2017-18 Michael Blackburn (AST/NSW)
2015-16 Michael Blackburn (AST/NSW)
Michael Blackburn achieved a remarkable feat at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August when Tom Burton won Gold in the Laser class. This made Michael a back-to-back Gold medal winning coach, following his success in London coaching Tom Slingsby in 2012. The medal race in Rio for Tom Burton will be remembered for its tactical brilliance and sheer grit and determination, an achievement that was engineered between Burton and Blackburn. As Laser coach of the Australian Sailing Team, Blackburn also coaches Matt Wearn, who in the 12 months leading up to Rio was a very able training partner and strong competitor to Tom Burton. In the World Sailing Laser World Rankings, from July 2015 to April 2016, Tom Burton and Matt Wearn battled out for number one and two position with Tom number one for eight months and Matt number one for two months >> Nomination Citation
2014-15 Tristan Brown (Western Australia)
As part of the Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC), Tristan Brown has had a busy year, coaching locally, nationally and internationally. Following a successful career in the Laser Radial that brought him two World Championships, recently Tristan has placed more emphasis on his coaching.
Tristan was selected as the Australian team coach for the 2015 World Laser Radial Youth Championships in Kingston, Canada. He became a World Champion coach for the first time with Conor Nicholas winning the event. He also coached two sailors onto the 2015 Australian Youth Sailing Team to contest the ISAF Youth World Sailing Championships in Malaysia, taking place at the end of the year >> Nomination Citation
2013-14 Larry Cargill (NSW)
Larry has coached several athletes to top positions this year, most notably two World Championships wins. Larry is the Australian Sailing Team coach for the SKUD 18, coaching London 2012 Paralympic Champions, Dan Fitzgibbon and Lisel Tesch who became World Champions for the first time at the IFDS World Championships in August 2014. As National 29er Squad coach, Larry coached sailors Kurt Hansen and Harry Morton to World Champion status at the 29er Open Worlds in early August 2014. Larry is constantly referred to as a father figure for many athletes with right mix of attention, emotional support and at times, hard love. Larry’s commitment has not wavered as he juggles his responsibilities between squads and the challenges of program funding and available time.