Vendee Globe heroes Justine Mettraux and Charlie Dalin were named Rolex World Sailors of the Year at the World Sailing Awards hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.
Both winners of the 2025 Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards triumphed in the Vendée Globe. The male award was presented to France’s Dalin, the winning skipper on board Macif Santé Prévoyance. Switzerland’s Mettraux, the fastest woman to take part in the round the world yacht race, finishing eighth overall on board Teamwork-Team SNEF, won the female award but was unable to appear in person as she is competing the Transat Cafe-L’Or.
Dalin of France placed first in the 10th edition of the quadrennial Vendée Globe race around the world that took place in 2024–2025 completing the race within a time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds, smashing the previous record by nine days, eight hours, 12 minutes and 57 seconds.
Justine Mettraux of Switzerland became the fastest female to take part in the Vendee Globe, finishing eighth and setting a record for the fastest single-handed, non-stop, monohull circumnavigation by a woman, with a time of 76 days, one hour and 36 minutes.
The awards were decided by the combined verdicts of 17,480 public votes and an expert panel of judges.
The Kuehne+Nagel Young World Sailor of the Year awards were won by Greece’s Nikolaos Pappas and Marta Cardona of Spain.
Nikolaos Pappas, from the small Greek village of Vonitsa, made history on the global sailing stage. At just 13 years of age and competing at his first international event – the 2025 Optimist World Championship in Portoroz, Slovenia – he beat 213 athletes from all over the world to take the title.
Another debutant, Marta Cardona Alcántara from Spain, showed her potential by winning the 470 Mixed World and European Championships at the first time of sailing in the events. She won the European title after sailing with her partner Jordi Xammar for just 40 days and went on to claim the world title a month later.
The LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES Project by the Royal Yachting Association won the 11th Hour Racing Impact Award, Vakaros was named the first ever winner of the new World Sailing Technology Award, Team Emirates New Zealand, winners of The America’s Cup, won the Team of the Year by the narrowest of margins from amateur team Headcase, the three-time J/24 European Champions drawn from clubs across Ireland.
Bernard Bonneau was presented with the Beppe Croce Trophy for his role in the development of the global implementation of the Racing Rules of Sailing and his commitment to setting the highest standards in officiating, and Jevan Tan, founder and director of the Metazone Limited’s Sailing & Sustainability Programme in Singapore won the President’s Development Award.
Jevan has been a pioneer in advancing inclusive sailing across Singapore and the wider Asian region. He played a pivotal role in bringing the first Para Sailing Development Programme to Singapore and went on to launch the country’s — and the region’s — first Inclusive Development Programme, introducing sailing as a platform for accessibility and empowerment.
World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Impact Award
The LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES Project, which ran from 2019-2024, is a landmark collaboration uniting conservation bodies and the recreational boating community to restore and protect fragile seagrass meadows and maerl beds across five Special Areas of Conservation in southern England.
Funded by the EU LIFE Programme and led by Natural England with partners including the Royal Yachting Association through its environmental programme, the Green Blue, Ocean Conservation Trust, Marine Conservation Society and Plymouth City Council the project bridges the gap between environmental stewardship and sport.
ReMEDIES addressed the challenge of declining seagrass habitats through practical restoration, sustainable infrastructure, and community engagement. Eight hectares of seagrass were restored using innovative planting techniques, 17 Advanced eco-Mooring Systems (AMS) were installed to protect seabed, and three voluntary no-anchor zones were created. Uptake of AMS rose from 5% to 22% between 2021 and 2024, while boaters pledging to avoid anchoring in seagrass increased from 17% to 41%.
Alongside these physical interventions, the project reached over 29,000 people through over 500 outreach events, engaged more than 7,000 schoolchildren in marine education, and trained over 2,427 boaters and young sailors in sustainable anchoring practices.
The legacy of ReMEDIES continues through new restoration projects and the ongoing adoption of its tools and guidance in the UK and internationally.
World Sailing Technology Award
RaceSense by Vakaros has transformed water-based event management for all levels, from club races to world championships.
Previously, race management relied on manual methods, which were time-consuming and error-prone. RaceSense employs precision timing and positioning, equipping each boat with a Vakaros Atlas instrument and syncing all devices via a proprietary mesh network, independent of cellular service.
This system enables instant OCS decisions, eliminates traditional pings, and ensures accurate timing. Organisers get live tracking, safety monitoring, and improved fleet communication, while racers experience fewer recalls and more racing.
