2023 saw a shake-up to the Award categories at the Australian Sailing Awards, with changes including the addition of the Team of the Year Award. The award recognises a crew of two or more sailors, from any category of sailing, who performed outstandingly in a sailing event(s) or other activity in the nomination period.  

The Team of the Year has replaced the Offshore Sailor of the Year Award, with Offshore being recognised as a part of the expanded Team of the Year Award criteria. 

The Australia SailGP Team completed an unprecedented three-peat in Season 3 of SailGP when they won the Grand Final in San Francisco.  

No other team has won a SailGP series in the three years the competition has existed, marking Australia's absolute dominance in the annual series.  

The team have shown themselves to be ruthless competitors and huge under the pressure of the winner-takes-all Grand Final. Australia won 4 of the 11 regattas throughout the season to finish atop the overall series leaderboard before going on to win the 3-boat Grand Final Race.  

The team is led by Tom Slingsby leading in the Helmsman seat. 

Australia SailGP Team

Representing Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and Nedlands Yacht Club, Cam Owen and Susan Ghent continue to support their sport and their Hobie 16 class through travel to regional clubs and special events, interstate and overseas. 

The Western Australian team traveled to Spain to compete in the 2022 Hobie 16 World Championships, where they went head-to-head with 225 teams from 22 nations competing. Not only did Cam and Susan win the Open World Championships but they claimed the Masters Division while they were at it. 

In late December 2022 the team went on to win the Australian National Hobie 16 Championships, in another stellar effort from this dynamic duo. 

Cam and Susan’s passion for the sport is further displayed by the fact that they manage their own training program, competition goals and travel arrangements and their ongoing campaign is almost entirely self-funded. 

Cam Owen and Susan Ghent

Young guns Joel Beashel and Logan Radford have signalled themselves as a team to watch after a dominating season in the 29er. 

Logan and Joel first met in 2016 sailing Optimists at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club. Over time their friendship has grown and so have their sailing achievements together. Logan and Joel have won multiple NSW state and National titles in the Flying Ant and in the performance period won the NSW Youth, NSW East Coast, NSW State and Australian Championships in the 29er. 

The team showed their versatility in winning the 2023 NSW Combined High Schools (CHS) championship sailing a 16ft Skiff and placing 3rd at the 2022 Sail Sydney regatta in the 29er.  

Both Logan and Joel give back to their sport coaching the next generation of sailors at Gosford Sailing Club (Logan) and Toronto Sailing Club (Joel).  

Joel Beashel and Logan Radford

The winner of the Team of the Year Award will be announced at the 2023 Australian Sailing Awards on November 3. For more information on the Awards including a full list of finalists, click here.