Britain’s Alexandra Rickham nominated for ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards

03 Nov 2011

Great Britain’s ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion and IFDS World Champion Alexandra Rickham is one of four female sailors to be nominated for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2011, which will be awarded on 8 November in Puerto Rico.

Rickham is nominated based on her achievements during the qualifying period of 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011.

In July 2011, Rickham won her third consecutive IFDS Disabled Sailing World title in the two-person keelboat, SKUD18. A few weeks later she clinched the 2010-2011 ISAF Sailing World Cup title with a series score of 78 from a maximum 80 points available.

In 2007 Rickham teamed up with Niki Birrell as a crew and at the 2008 Paralympic Games they finished just outside the medals in fifth. In 2009 they switched places and have since gone from strength to strength, finishing on the podium at all of the regattas they have raced at in this nomination period.

The season got underway in December at the 2010 Sail Melbourne regatta and Rickham posted her first regatta win of the ISAF Sailing World Cup series. The second gold came in Hyères at the Semaine Olympique Française and two silvers from the US SAILING Rolex Miami OCR and Skandia Sail for Gold in Weymouth. This was Rickham and Birrell's second consecutive World Cup title achieved in emphatic style.

At the IFDS Worlds in Weymouth, Rickham's consistent performance put her team at the top of the leaderboard from day one. With four race wins from the 10 race series Rickham and Birrell secured the title with a day to spare. A third consecutive world title is an exceptional achievement and Rickham's determination to succeed makes her the sailor to beat on the Paralympic circuit.

Other nominations for the women’s award include Great Britain’s Record Breaking Round the World Yachtswoman Dee Caffari, Aruba’s Double Professional Windsurfing Association World Champion Sarah-Quita Offringa and USA’s ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion Anna Tunnicliffe.

The winners will be selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who have been invited to vote for the one male and one female nominee who they believe most deserves the Award.

For more information, visit the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards microsite at www.sailing.org/worldsailor