Last night the Queensland Sailing Community got together at either their clubs, their homes or watching social media channels for the online announcement of the winners for the 2020 Queensland Sailing Awards.

Australian Sailing CEO Ben Houston joined online to wish all the finalists well and to introduce the two Barranjoey Pin recipients who were receiving their pins in person at the Australian Sailing Queensland Office. 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.

Barrenjoey Pin Alumni Ash Brunning pinned the recipients John Ferguson and Mara Stransky. 

• John Ferguson: John represented Australia at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where he crewed on John Cuneo’s Dragon to finish fifth. He was also a reserve for the Finn Class at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the Star Class at the 1980 Moscow Games. He also went on to be Sailing Team Manager at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics.

• Mara Stransky: Mara joined the Australian Sailing Team after a stunning European summer of sailing in 2019 when she finished 6^th at the World Cup Series event in Genoa, 11^th at Hyeres and 7^th at the Laser Radial European Championships in Porto. Her strong results led to her selection as Australia’s representative in the class for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Matthew Johnson Yachting Queensland President spoke about how it is very encouraging to witness the breadth of dedication to our sailing community.  He thanked the community for recognising the worthy finalists for their contributions to your club, your juniors, your coaching programs, your race management, or for just being the reliable one who is always at the club wanting to help others.

He said “Tonight, we will look back at the successes that have occurred in these challenging times and recognise those sailors, volunteers, officials, and clubs who have gone that extra nautical mile. I would like to thank those people and clubs who went through the process of nominating someone for an award tonight”.

Our special guests were the presenters of the awards.  Here are our incredible winners for 2020:

• Youth Sailor of the Year – Scott Whitehead from Townsville Yacht Club
• Para Sailor of the Year – Ross Manning from Southport Yacht Club
• Offshore Sailor of the Year – John Warlow from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
• Female Sailor of the Year – Mara Stransky from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
• Male Sailor of the Year – Mathew Belcher from Southport Yacht Club and Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
• Instructor of the Year – Diane Kelsey from Townsville Sailing Club
• Coach of the Year – Shane Smith from Southport Yacht Club
• Official of the Year – Ross Chisholm from Whitsunday Sailing Club
• Volunteer of the Year – Leandra Boothby from Townsville Sailing Club
• Sports Promotion Award – Jodie Kennedy from Townsville Yacht Club
• Sports Professional Award – Robert Preston from South Brisbane Sailing Club
• SheSails Award – Danielle Kennedy from Mooloolaba Yacht Club
• Sustainability Award – Ocean Crusaders
• Lifetime Achievement Award – Kerry Waraker
• Club of the Year for 2020 – Southport Yacht Club

All of our winners are now nominated for the National Awards.  Finalists will be announced in the first week of October.  Wishing all our nominees the best.

A Couple of Fun Facts for 2020

We received 57 Individual Nominations and 5 Club Nominations

14 Clubs were represented out of 52 Clubs in Queensland

4 people up were nominated for more than one category

33 Individuals and 13 Clubs were represented in the finalist list

Every club is special in its own way and our community is filled with incredible people who are part of our sport.  We hope that more clubs and individuals will be nominated for the 2021 Queensland Sailing Awards. 

Thank you for your support.