Australian Sailing Awards 2022

The Australian Sailing Awards Nominations opened on Monday, 27 June. We commenced the process with the Squadron Awards for sailing and non-sailing. Thank you to Member Services Committee Member Nadine Tabak for initiating the Squadron Awards concept. Nominations closed on Friday, 15 July. Winners of the Squadron Awards were put forward to be judged for the Australian Sailing Victorian state awards, with the state winners to be put forward as nominees for the national awards very soon. We’re taking this opportunity to congratulate our winners and finalist in the state awards!

Alex Toomey and Andrew Hibbert: Offshore Sailor the Year – Victorian state award winners

RMYS is proud to announce Alex Toomey and his crewmate Andrew Hibbert as winners of the Victorian state awards and our Offshore Sailors of the year. Alex and Andrew did extremely well in the ORCV Apollo Bay Race, placing 1st in PHS, AMS and DhHC, all while competing double handed. Alex and Andrew have done RMYS proud at many other ocean and club races, including ORCV’s Coastal Sprint and King Island. Congratulations, Alex and Andrew, on your achievements this year and selection as the RMYS and Victorian state Australian Sailing awarded Offshore Sailors of the year.

GenOA Committee: Inclusivity Award – Victorian state award winners

The Generational Outreach and Access committee created an inclusive space through holistic engagement in which young members can feel safe and accepted. GenOA is a unique n novel concept introduced to RMYS just 18 months ago. That has done nothing but flourish, grow and increase participation within the club and the broader sailing community. GenOA endeavours to holistically engage sailors from within the targeted (not restricted) age bracket of 18-35 years old through a monthly committee meeting that, under its most basic descriptions, is a social event. GenOA has developed a voice for younger members to advocate for their needs. With LGBTQ+ representation and 50% female membership. GenOA hopes to inspire other clubs to have similar initiatives.

RMYS Training: Victorian Discover Sailing Centre of the Year Award finalist

RMYS Training has been nominated for the Discover Sailing Centre of the year. With over 100 course attendees since the program was brought in house, our training centre is something our members can be proud of. Recently, the introduction of a training membership allowed new members to complete the full Australian Sailing syllabus as part of their membership and begin racing on boats during our Wednesday and Saturday races with confidence. We are proud of RMYS Training and look forward to seeing how it grows under our new training manager, Grant Seamer.

Ross Flood: Official of the Year – Victorian state finalist

Ross has been instrumental in the continual running of racing at RMYS since the departure of our full-time Boating Manager. Ross has been instrumental in officiating races and has also stepped up to help coordinate the logistics of the entire RMYS on water volunteer team.

Kristen Buckland: SheSails Award – Victorian state finalist

RMYS is extremely proud to nominate Kristen Buckland as our Club’s SheSails Award recipient. In our in-club awards process, Kristen was nominated nine times for the RMYS internal SheSails Award by varying members of our club. Kristen’s ability to achieve above and beyond expectations saw AWKR receive international press attention, furthering the promotion and encouragement of female sailors across the globe.

Kristen has been the mainstay and face of the AWKR for several years. The time, effort, energy, and passion she has contributed to one of the most successful ever AWKRs pre-COVID and getting it together again for a very successful 2022 AWKR is invaluable. The event’s significance in furthering the skills and attraction of sailing for women cannot be underestimated. Kristen has proven her ability to coordinate, promote and administer female participation of women at RMYS and in the wider sport of sailing. We are proud to congratulate her as a finalist for the Victorian state finalist for the SheSails award.

John Taylor: Male Sailor of the Year – Victorian state finalist

RMYS is proud to congratulate long standing club member John Taylor as our male sailor of the year. John was nominated as a finalist in the Victorian state awards, our club’s male sailor of the year, for his outstanding achievements in club races and his continued voluntary contributions to our club. John took home the most trophies from our club’s presentation night and contributed to our club through voluntary commitments to our general committee, our race official team, and our training academy. Thank you, John, for all you do for RMYS and congratulations on another successful year of racing.

Ailsa Pender: Female Sailor of the Year – Victorian state finalist

RMYS proudly congratulates Ailsa Pender as our Female Sailor of the Year. Ailsa regularly helms Sunshine, an Adams 10.5, in many clubs and community races. Ailsa placed first in both AMS and PHS for Division 2 of the Port Phillip Women’s series and achieved 1st and 3rd at Australian Women Keelboat Regatta races in Division 1. Alisa, congratulations on your successful year of sailing, your selection as the RMYS female sailor of the year, and being a finalist for the Victorian state awards.

Alex Ward: Youth Sailor of the Year – Victorian state nominee

RMYS is proud to award Alex Ward our Youth Sailor of the year. Alex has done extremely well in the 2021-2022 season. Alex collected the largest number of trophies given to Juniors this season, including the winner of Best Helm, Best Junior Squad Member, Best Performing Crew from Stonehaven Cup, HMS Victory Trophy and Napier Cup. Alex has also been the RMYS Junior Captain. Congratulations, Alex, on your successful year in the RMYS junior squad.

We look forward to seeing where your future in sailing will lead you.

Janet Dean: Volunteer of the Year – Victorian state nominee

RMYS is proud to award Past Commodore Janet Dean with the Squadron Award for Volunteer of the Year. Janet has worked tirelessly to make our club a better place. She had stepped in within the last twelve months to assist when we did not have a full time boating coordinator. Janet put in countless hours to set up races, manage the administration and implementation of events, calculate Top Yacht results as well putting in the time to organize our Club Calendar. We are grateful to Janet for her help and proud to award her the Squadron Award for Volunteer of the Year.

Rob Murraylee: Instructor of the Year – Victorian state nominee

RMYS is proud to congratulate Rob on Instructor of the Year. Rob has a relaxed, considerate and patient demeanour with students and his fun and good humour make the entire learning experience true joy.

Chris Harve: Sustainability Award – National finalist

Over 2500 PFDs are disposed of yearly by sailors as they are cheaper to replace than repair. To combat this, Chris has launched a program called Life Bags, which utilizes expired PFD life jackets and converts them into satchel bags. Chris encourages sailors to donate their old life jackets. He then connected with a local Victorian woman who had connections to new arrival refugees. Together with this partnership, they can complete the life bag conversion and sell them via local storefront venues. We are proud to partner with Chris on this project and award him the Squadron Sustainability Award for his endeavour.