After a stunning year on the water, sailing’s highest achievers were honored 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.
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.
About the World Sailing Awards
World Sailing launched the World Sailor of the Year Awards in 1994 to reward individual sailors for outstanding achievements in the sport. Rolex has been sponsors of the award since 2001, celebrating more than two decades of excellence and achievement in sailing.
World Sailing and 11th Hour Racing joined forces in 2018 to celebrate the delivery of high impact and replicable sustainability within the maritime industry aligned to World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030. The winner receives a 10,000 USD prize to fund their continued sustainability efforts, and the iconic trophy made from recycled carbon fibre from an America’s Cup boat infused with bio resin.
The World Sailing Annual Conference is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board and the Singapore Sailing Federation. The World Sailing Awards were supported by Rolex, 11th Hour Racing and Tiger Beer.
Adaptation of originally published article by World Sailing on 5 November, 2024
Edited by ILCA