After a stunning year on the water, sailing’s highest achievers were honoured at the World Sailing Awards ceremony at Singapore’s historic CHIJMES Hall.
The 2024 Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards – the 30th year of the awards – were presented to Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Marit Bouwmeester, the most successful female sailor at the Olympics in the sport, and the Spanish duo of Diego Botin and Florian Trittel, gold medallists in the men’s skiff at Paris 2024 and winners of SailGP season 4.
The awards were decided by the combined verdicts of a record 49,964 public votes and an expert panel of judges.
The new Young World Sailor of the Year awards were won by Poland’s Ewa Lewandowska and hometown hero Max Maeder of Singapore.
Ewa Lewandowska claimed an impressive gold medal in the mixed category of the 29er at the Youth Sailing World Championships. That success came in partnership with Krzysztof Królik, with whom she started sailing in February and with whom she also won the European title and finished second at the 29er worlds. Lewandowska also won youth worlds gold in December last year in partnership with Julia Maria Zmudzinska.
At the age of 17, Max is the reigning Formula Kite World, Asian Games, Asian and European champion, as well as the Paris 2024 Olympic bronze-medallist. He claimed the gold at 2024 Formula Kite World Championships in Hyères and his incredible rise also includes winning the KiteFoil World Series in Austria, gold at the 2024 KiteFoil Asian Championships, gold at the Asian Games, and gold at the 2023 Youth Sailing World Championship. He is one of the most consistent athletes in the Formula Kite class with a podium finish at every event. He is the youngest world champion of an Olympic class and Singapore’s youngest Olympic medallist.
Winds of Change won the 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award, NLcomp was named the first ever winner of the new World Sailing Technology Award, the Olympic champion pair of Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti won the Team of the Year, adding to the Rolex World Sailor of the Year award they both won in 2022, Aiko Saito was presented with the Beppe Croce Trophy in celebration of a career devoted to sailing, and Tunisian Olympian and President of the Tunisian Sailing Federation, Hedi Gharbi won the President’s Development Award.
Marit Bouwmeester wins the female 2024 Rolex World Sailor of the Year for the second time, after her win in 2017. This year she became the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time when she won gold in the women’s dinghy at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. That took her career tally at four Olympic medals – gold from Paris 2024 and Rio 2016, silver at London 2012 and bronze at Tokyo 2020. Marit’s Olympic success has seen her hailed as a role model after she returned to competition following the birth of her daughter in time to begin preparations for this year’s Olympics.
The Spanish pair of Diego Botin and Florian Trittel had a truly exceptional year with success at the Paris 2024 Olympics and in SailGP. Botin and Trittel won Olympic gold in the men’s skiff less than a month after taking the Spain SailGP Team from 10th to first to win the Season 4 SailGP championship. After breaking the Australian hold on the SailGP title, Botin and Trittel claimed gold in Marseille after a 49er season which also saw them win at the Semaine Olympique Francaise and the Princess Sofia Regatta.
The President’s Development Award went to the Tunisian Olympian and President of the Tunisian Sailing Federation, Hedi Gharbi. Gharbi is a dedicated and influential figure in Tunisian sailing, with a lifelong passion for the sport and an exceptional record as both an athlete and a sports leader. He participated at the Rio Olympic Games as an athlete while occupying the position of President. Currently serving his second term as President of the Tunisian Sailing Federation, he has played an instrumental role in advancing sailing across Tunisia, from grassroots programs to high-performance competitions.
