Eve McMahon took another first for Irish sailing this week when she was announced as a finalist for the Rolex World Sailor of the Year award.
As regular Afloat readers will know, the Irish Sailor of the Year and Paris 2024 debutante from Howth Yacht Club won multiple world championship medals at the youth level, including the ILCA 6 Youth World Championships twice and the U21 world title.
The Irish solo sailor faces stiff competition in the overall young female sailor category from 29er duo Iakovina Kerkezou & Danai Giannouli of Greece, 29er helm Ewa Lewandowska of Poland, and kitesurfer Maria Catalina Turienzo of Argentina.
The names include Olympic champions, dominant teams, and organisations committed to improving the global sailing community. Each finalist impressed the judging panel with their achievements over the past year, commitment to sustainability in sailing, and efforts to modernise the sport at every level.
Two new awards will make their debut this year: the male and female Young World Sailor of the Year will celebrate the rising stars of our sport, while the Boat of the Year award has been renamed the World Sailing Technology Award to recognise the wider work on innovations in sailing.
Voting for all World Sailing Awards opens today, and everyone who loves sailing is invited to help decide who will be the winners.
Voting closes at 2300 UTC on Sunday, 27 October.
The public vote will make up 50% of the final decisions, with 50% of the votes being contributed by World Sailing's expert panels.
More on Eve McMahon's achievements here
Cast your vote here.
Award Shortlists
Rolex World Sailor of the Year finalists - Male
- Diego Botin & Florian Trittel (ESP)
- Peter Burling (NZL)
- Ruggero Tita (ITA)
- Matt Wearn (AUS)
Rolex World Sailor of the Year finalists - Female
- Odile van Aanholt & Annette Duetz (NED)
- Eleanor Aldridge (GBR)
- Marit Bouwmeester (NED)
- Vuyisile Jaca (RSA)
11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award
- The IODA ROPE Program
- Switzerland SailGP Team (SUI)
- rrreefs AG (SUI)
- Winds of Change (CYP)
Young World Sailor of the Year – Female
- Iakovina Kerkezou & Danai Giannouli (GRE)
- Ewa Lewandowska (POL)
- Eve McMahon (IRL)
- Maria Catalina Turienzo (ARG)
Young World Sailor of the Year – Male
- Vittorio Bonifacio (ITA)
- Max Maeder (SGP)
- Grae Morris (AUS)
- Magnus Overbeck (DEN)
Team of the Year
- Odile van Aanholt & Annette Duetz (NED)
- Diego Botin & Florian Trittel (ESP)
- Spain SailGP Team (ESP)
- Ruggero Tita & Caterina Banti (ITA)
- Team WINGS (SWE)
World Sailing Technology Award
- Master Sailing jdoo (CRO)
- Nautical Cloud Ltd (GBR)
- Northern Lights Composites (ITA)
- Vakaros (USA)