Western Australians Win at the 2016 Australian Sailing Awards

Published On: 1 November 2016

WAIS sailor Alistair Young has been awarded Youth Sailor of the Year at the 2016 Australian Sailing Awards, held in Sydney on Saturday.

Nominated for the award alongside fellow Western Australian’s Conor Nicholas and Zoe Thomson, it was Young who took out the title for his performances in 2016.

The field was filled with promising young Australian sailors who had all experienced success in both World and Australian Championships.

Alistair Young was announced the winner based on his first place finish at the 2016 ISAF Youth World Laser Radial Championships, held in Malaysia.

Western Australian Paralympic sailors Colin Harrison and Russell Boaden also experienced success at the awards night, wining Sailor of the Year with a Disability alongside the rest of the Australian Paralympic Sailing Team.

The team won their award following their outstanding performances in Rio in September.

They were named the most successful section of the Australian Paralympic Team ever after obtaining podium finishes in all of their events.

This combined with their continuous success in all competitions leading in to Rio rounded off an award worthy year for the Paralympic sailors.

Taking away top honours of the night were Male Sailor of the Year, Tom Burton and Female Sailor of the Year, Lisa Darmanin.