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September 16 2005

Nominations open for 2005 Raymarine YJA awards The race for the top annual title in yachting began today with the opening of nominations for the 2005 Raymarine YJA Yachtsman of the Year and Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year Awards. Opening the nominations at the Southampton Boat Show, YJA Chairman Dick Johnson paid tribute to Sir Max Aitken, who started the Yachtsman of the Year award fifty years ago in 1955. The first winner was the world-girdling sailor Eric Hiscock, whose stories of his voyages inspired thousands of people to set their sights on distant horizons. Winners since then have included all the great names in yachting - Francis Chichester, Edward Heath, Robin Knox-Johnston, Chay Blyth and Ellen Macarthur - as well as six times Class 1 powerboat champion Steve Curtis.  Sir Max handed the Yachtsman of the Year trophy and its management over to the YJA in 1979. In 1993 the YJA launched another award, Young Sailor of the Year, to recognise endeavour and achievement by sailors under the age of 19. The Young Sailor award is organised through the 13 regions of the RYA, each of whom nominates a regional winner. Nominations for either award can be made online at the Raymarine website, and close on November 4 2005.     Current holders of the Raymarine YJA Yachtsman of the Year Award: the nine Team GB sailing medallists from the 2004 Athens Olympics.