The Australian Sailing Awards are set to go virtual in 2020, with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a shake-up of how the Awards will be delivered this year.

State and National awards will still be presented in 2020, but with current government restrictions on mass gatherings and uncertainty around when they will be lifted Australian Sailing has made the decision to cancel the physical attendance components of all state and national awards functions.

The awards will instead be delivered “virtually”, with winners announced and celebrated online and recognised for their efforts within the existing nomination periods.

The Awards will also see one of their biggest overhauls in recent times, with the nomination period for the state and national awards to be aligned and run simultaneously for the first time. 

This means that nominees will only need to submit one nomination for both state and national awards, as opposed to having to submit a nomination twice as they have done previously. That nomination will be judged under the same criteria for both state and national awards, with state winners automatically being nominated for the national awards.

The nomination period is expected to open early in July, with State winners to be announced from August and National winners from October.

The Australian Sailing Hall of Fame will also continue in 2020, with new inductees expected to be announced later in the year. With the cancellation of the Australian Sailing National Awards Gala Dinner the inductees will be honoured online this year and where eligible in person at an appropriate date in the future.