The Queensland Sailing community celebrated its night of nights with glitz and glamour at the 2019 Queensland Sailing Awards. Hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Saturday 21^st July 120 guests celebrated the success, achievements and contributions of 63 finalists across 17 award categories. While each and every finalists was a very worth winner and all deserving of the acknowledgement and congratulations there could only be one winner for each category.

The selection panel made up of the Board of Directors from Yachting Queensland sure had a tough time deliberating on the winners but after the votes where counted, some with only a point between them the winners where decided.

The awards night began with the Australian Sailing CEO, Ben Houston introducing and announcing the latest round of Barranjoey Pin Recipients. The Barranjoey Pin is the Australian Sailing Team Alumni Program, the Barranjoey Pin, started in 2018. It is designed to acknowledge the legacy and history of Olympic and Paralympic class sailing in Australia and recognise those athletes who have achieved the Australian Sailing Team standard since the Team's establishment in 2006. The Barranjoey Pin is an embodiment of the great traditions and values of those who have competed and continue to compete at the highest level for Australia in sailing. This years Queensland recipients were:

• Greg Torpy - Recipient 103 – represented Australia at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games in the Star class in Seoul 1998 alongside teammate Colin Beashel.
• Brendan Casey - Recipient 164 – competed at numerous World Championships in the Finn Class and also represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympics.
• Mathew Belcher - Recipient 168 – a dual Olympic medalist in the 470 Class, with a gold medal at the London 2012 Games with Malcolm Page, followed by a Silver at the Rio 2016 Games with Will Ryan.

The winners of the 2019 Queensland Sailing Awards are:

JUNIOR SAILOR OF THE YEAR FEMALE

Breanne Wadley – Tinaroo Sailing Club

Award received by: Breanne Wadley Presented by: Mathew Belcher

JUNIOR SAILOR OF THE YEAR MALE

Travis Wadley – Tinaroo Sailing Club

Award received by: Travis Wadley Presented by: Mathew Belcher

YOUTH SAILOR OF THE YEAR FEMALE

Hailey Lea – Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club

Award received by: Hailey Lee Presented by: Mathew Belcher

YOUTH SAILOR OF THE YEAR MALE

Hamish Swain – Whitsunday Sailing Club

Award received by: Ross Chislom Presented by: Mathew Belcher

FEMALE SAILOR OF THE YEAR

Mara Stransky – Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron

Award received by: Mrs Stransky Presented by: Ben Houston

MALE SAILOR OF THE YEAR

Mathew Belcher – Southport Yacht Club

Award received by: Mathew Belcher Presented by: Ben Houston

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Townsville Sailing Club

Award received by: Craig Knight Presented by: Stacey Jackson

SAILOR OF THE YEAR WITH A DISABILITY

Chelseann Osbourne – Townsville Sailing Club

Award received by: Chelseann Osbourne Presented by: Ben Houston

OFFSHORE SAILOR OF THE YEAR

Drew Curuthers – Multihull Yacht Club Queensland

Award received by: Drew Curuthers Presented by: Ben Houston

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Darryl Skinner – Keppel Bay Sailing Club

Award received by: Ella Sagnol Presented by: Greg Torpy

INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR

Diane Kelsey – Townsville Sailing Club

(not able to attend)

COACH OF THE YEAR

Mathew Himson – Port Denison Sailing Club

Award received by: Mathew Himson Presented by: Brendan Casey

OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR

Paul Effeney – Keppel Bay Sailing Club

Award received by: Paul Effeny  Presented by: Greg Torpy

SHESAILS AWARD

Women’s Keelboat Development Program – Mooloolaba Yacht Club

Award received by: Suzzane Mabbot 

SPORT PROMOTION AWARD

Adrian Bram – Airlie Beach Race Week, Whitsunday Sailing Club

Award received by: Ross Chisolm  Presented by: Matthew Johnson

SPORT PROFESSIONAL

Ella Sagnol – Keppel Bay Sailing Club

Award received by: Ella Sagnol Presented by: Matthew Johnson 

CLUB OF THE YEAR AWARD

Townsville Sailing Club

Award received by: Craig Knight, Leandra Boothby, Peter Osbourne, Chelseann Osbourne

 Presented by: Matthew Johnson

Matthew Johnson, President of Yachting Queensland made note of how exceptional it was to receive so many high-quality nominations and with a good spread of clubs represented from across the State.

Australian Sailing Regional Manager, Ben Callard made note that while award nominations had increased by over 70% there were still a large number of people from many clubs that deserved recognition that had not been nominated. It would be great next year to again double the nominations and have more finalists in each category and more people, our sailors, administrators, volunteers recognised for the great contribution they make to our Queensland Sailing Community.

Congratulations to all the winners and the finalists and thank you to all of the guests on the night for their contribution to a fun filled evening of celebrations.