Four coaches have been announced as finalists for the Australian Sailing Awards, with the winner to be announced at the Australian National Maritime Museum on Friday November 4.

Ben Durham from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is a versatile coach across all levels of sailing, from developing pathways at a junior level in Western Australia to his high-profile coaching role with the Australian Sail GP team.

He is a highly sought-after coach world-wide who has produced some impressive results on the international circuit – all the while continuing to contribute at the grass roots level.

With Ben at the coaching helm, the Australian Sail GP team had an outstanding season, finishing first overall in Sail GP’s third season. He was also coach of the German team on board the Swan 50 Earlybird, finishing second at the 2021 World Championships, and the South African Phoenix Sailing Team in the TP52 series.

Ben was involved with team development for the Sail GP series, including the development of the female athletes and their integration into the team.

He continues to pass on his knowledge, coaching and providing guidance and support to all levels of racing and development at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.

He is also a coach and board member at Swan River Sailing, supporting youth and youth at risk.

In his spare time Ben sails on the TP52 Crush, a yacht based in Fremantle, acting as the coach/tactician, and developing a mixture of youth, female and seniors to race competitively on a TP52.

The second finalists, Carolijn Brouwer and Ben Walkemeyer of the Australian Sailing Team have produced outstanding results on the international stage over the past 12 months.

Despite not being involved in international National ILCA 6 regattas since 2019, the Aussie contingent have shown they are a force to be reckoned.

Brouwer is no stranger to the international sailing scene, spending a lifetime on the water and becoming a multiple world champion across various classes.

A triple Olympic sailor with the Netherlands and Belgium, Carolijn together with Walkemeyer have brought immediate success to Australian sailing.

Carolijn joined the Australian Sailing Team as the National ILCA 6 Coach in 2021, bringing with her that wealth of experience on the international scene and her and Walkemeyer have become a perfect coaching team.

The squad almost immediately started showing significant improvement in their results making an impact internationally.

Mara Stransky won at Kiel Week, where all four Australian Sailing Squad athletes qualified for the Medal Race and there were also Aussies in the Medal Races at Palma with Elyse Ainsworth and in Hyeres, where Stransky shone again.

The AIS has recognised Ben and Carolijin’s work with the ILAC 6 women, saying it is strongly tied to Australian Sailing’s Strategic Priorities and High-Performance Strategy which is set to best position more female sailors for podium successes while growing the pool of sailors progressing along sailing’s performance pathway.

The last finalist in the category, Jack Lewis from the Victorian Internationl Optimist Dingy Association is the State Coach of the highly successful Victorian Optimist Sailing Team (VOST).

The VOST was made up of nine sailors based on their previous year’s results and eligibility. Under Jack's coaching, members of the VOST team achieved major Australian International Optimist Dingy Association (AIODA) selection with one on the World’s team; three on the European Championships team, two on the Asian Championship team and two on the Australian Optimist Development Team.

Jack ran VOST training camps at Indented Head and Sandringham, with most of the sailors competing at the Summer Optimist Regatta (SORS) with great results leading up to the Australian Championship.

He trained and coached Team Sorrento’s Optimist sailors for the Victoria State Championships. He also provided guidance to many Victorian and Interstate sailors outside of his immediate team over the course of the Championships.

Jack was appointed as the Australian Development Squad Coach where he assisted at AOST/AODS camps and will be AODS Coach in New Caledonia this October.

Jack has also taken on other lead roles in junior/youth sailing including: Head Coach at Sorrento Sailing and Couta Boat Club; Schools Team Racing Coach for Peninsula Grammar; Laser training; Helping young sailors transition to other classes including Laser, 29er, Waszp, Wing Foil and Windsurfer.

The winner of Coach of the Year will be announced alongside the other categories at the Australian Sailing Awards on November 4, 2022. To read more about the awards or to purchase your ticket, please click here.