Nominations are now open for the 2023 Australian Sailing Awards, with the annual state events set to recognise clubs and members in all States and Territories for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the sailing community over the past year.

The Australian Sailing Awards are the peak awards for the sport of sailing in Australia and will act as a national celebration of sailing and its significance at a local, state, and national level.

This year’s Awards will have a new look, with the Club of the Year Award being split into two separate categories relating to the size of the club. This will give smaller clubs the opportunity to be recognised for their work growing the sport in their local community. There will be a new award as well, with the Team of the Year Award recognising 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 will replace the Offshore Sailor of the Year Award, with Offshore teams now in-line to be recognised as a part of the expanded criteria.

Nominations will first be judged for their relevant State Awards, with the winners set to be announced throughout August and September at in-person, state-based presentations.

The winning nominations from the State Awards will then be put forward as nominees to the judging panel of the National Australian Sailing Awards, with national winners to be announced at the Australian Sailing Awards and Hall of Fame Inductions Dinner in Sydney on Friday 3 November. So, to be in the running for the National Awards you must submit a nomination for your State or Territory Awards as per the timings below.

Key dates for this year’s process include:

• Nominations open: Friday 2 June – Monday 31 July
• State Winners announced: August and September
• National Finalists announced: Friday 6 October
• National Winners announced: Friday 4 November

Nominees will be judged for their achievements over the nomination performance period, which is 1 August 2022 to 31 July 2023 for both State and National Awards. 

Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club celebrates their 2022 Club of the Year Award win

Visit the Prepare your nomination page for all the information you will need to collate your nominations, including the criteria for each award category.

Click here to nominate for Club of the Year (Category A & Category B) and here to nominate for any of the individual/team awards.

We look forward to honouring individuals, groups and clubs with all manner of involvement in the sailing community, from our hard-working volunteers, through to inspiring performances from Australian sailors on the international stage.

In 2022 it was the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club who took out the Club of the Year title after an outstanding season that saw a variety of community and training programs boost their membership by over 30% in 12 months. Australian Sailing Team athlete Mara Stransky won Female Sailor of the Year ahead of a strong field including Nina Curtis and Zoe Thomson, while Tom Slingsby earned a record-equalling fifth Male Sailor of the Year Award following his dominant year across multiple classes. A full list of the 2022 Award winners can be found here.

Click here to find out more about the process for this year’s Awards.

Nominations are now open and will close at 11:59pm AEST on Monday 31 July 2023.

Nominate now for the following categories:

Individual Award Categories

• Male Sailor of the Year
• Female Sailor of the Year
• Para Sailor of the Year
• Youth Sailor of the Year

• Team of the Year (previously Offshore Sailor of the Year)

• Coach of the Year

Club Award Categories

• Club of the Year (Category A)

• Club of the Year (Category B)
• Instructor of the Year
• Official of the Year
• Volunteer of the Year

Sport Award Categories

• Lifetime Achievement Award
• SheSails Award
• Sport Professional Award
• Sport Promotion Award
• Sustainability Award