Happy Thursday everyone...
In today's newsletter:
- Emirates Team New Zealand named Team of the Year at the World Sailing Awards
- Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas first Ultim pair home in the Transat Café L'Or
- IMOCA solo round-the-world racers Justine Mettraux and Charlie Dalin named Rolex World Sailors of the Year
- Transat Café L’OR: Beyou and Lagravière on course for historic IMOCA victory
- Quiz Question...
Emirates Team New Zealand named Team of the Year at the World Sailing Awards
Emirates Team New Zealand is proud to have been named the 2025 World Sailing Team of the Year, a prestigious honour that recognises not only the team’s continued success on the water but also its enduring commitment to teamwork, innovation, and community within the sport of sailing.
The award follows Emirates Team New Zealand’s historic third consecutive America’s Cup victory in Barcelona in 2024, an achievement that solidified the team’s position as one of the most successful in the event’s long and storied history.
“This recognition is especially meaningful to us because it is not about any one individual. It is about the strength of the team,” said Kevin Shoebridge, COO of Emirates Team New Zealand. “Every single person in our organisation, from the sailors to the designers, the boatbuilders, the shore crew, and the families who support us, plays a crucial role in what we achieve together. This award belongs to all of them.”
The World Sailing Team of the Year Award celebrates collective excellence, a value that lies at the core of Emirates Team New Zealand’s philosophy. The team’s success has always been built on collaboration, respect, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Principles that continue to drive its culture both on and off the water.
In receiving the award, Emirates Team New Zealand also paid tribute to the other nominees, acknowledging the depth of talent and passion across the sport. In particular, the team extended warm praise to Dani A Pich, the inspirational blind sailor from Yes We Sail, who captured global admiration for his courage and determination for circumnavigating the Isle of Wight earlier this year.
Emirates Team New Zealand proudly supported Dani and his team during the America’s Cup campaign in Barcelona and continues to champion inclusivity and accessibility in sailing.
“We are very proud to stand alongside nominees who embody the best of what sailing represents: skill, perseverance, and sportsmanship,” said Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand. “Dani A Pich’s story, and the example he sets for sailors everywhere, reminds us why we do what we do. This award reflects the collective spirit of the sailing community.”
As Emirates Team New Zealand looks ahead to future challenges, the team remains committed to pushing boundaries in design, performance, and teamwork, while continuing to represent New Zealand with pride on the world stage.
Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas first Ultim pair home in the Transat Café L'Or
Wednesday, November 5 at 22:13:58 local time (03:13:58 in Paris), Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas were the first to cross the ULTIM finish line in Fort-de-France Bay for the 17th edition of the Transat Café L'Or Le Havre Normandie.
Appearing out of a moody Caribbean night to break the Fort-de-France finish line first at 22 h 13 min 58 sec local time (UTC minus 4 hours) 28 -year-old Laperche and 52-year-old co-skipper Cammas win the Ultim division of the famous biennial double handed race from Le Havre to Martinique.
Their elapsed time for the 6670 nautical miles course from the French channel port to Martinique, via a turning mark at the Saint Peter and Sain Paul islets in the South Atlantic, is 10days, 13 hours, 3 minutes, and 58 seconds.
Laperche and Cammas have led the race since Armel Le Cléac’h and Seb Josse on Banque Populaire XI, 2023’s race winners had to pitstop into Lorient to make a rudder repair early on the first morning of the race.
This is Laperche’s first big Tranatlantic race win with the giant blue trimaran. Cammas, who first tasted victory on this classic race in 2001, sets a new record as the only sailor to have now won five times. The French duo covered the 6490-mile route at an average speed of 25.65 knots over the water.
IMOCA solo round-the-world racers Justine Mettraux and Charlie Dalin named Rolex World Sailors of the Year
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.
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.
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 President’s Development Award went to Jevan Tan, the founder and director of the Metazone Limited's Sailing and Sustainability Programme.
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.
Transat Café L’OR: Beyou and Lagravière on course for historic IMOCA victory
With just over 500 miles to go the Transat Café L’OR has turned into a masterclass by Jérémie Beyou and Morgan Lagravière on the IMOCA Charal.
Still ripping along in the Trade Winds towards Fort-de-France, Beyou, 49, a habitual podium finisher in the IMOCA Class, is on course for his first big race win since the 2020 Vendée Arctique.
For Lagravière, meanwhile, winning this 17th edition of the Transat Café L’OR will give him three consecutive victories in this classic, having won it in both 2021 and 2023 with Thomas Ruyant.
This morning, approaching the end of their 11th day at sea, Beyou and Lagravière had stretched their lead over second-placed Sam Goodchild and Loïs Berrehar on MACIF Santé Prévoyance to 114 miles. Third place is still occupied by Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris on 11th Hour Racing. They have been vying for second with MACIF Santé Prévoyance and are only six miles behind her.
Then it’s Allagrande MAPEI (+151.5) skippered by Ambrogio Beccaria and Thomas Ruyant. And then, in fifth place, it’s Justine Mettraux – announced yesterday as the World Sailor of the Year in the Female category at the World Sailing Awards at Dun Laoghaire in Ireland. She is sailing with Xavier Macaire on Teamwork-Team SNEF, and they are another 155 miles back...
Quiz Question...
First of all a correction to last Wednesday's answer where we incorrectly said that the only sailor to have won Olympic gold medals in both the Finn and the Star classes was Brazil's Torben Grael – when the correct answer was Britain's Iain Percy. Apologies for the mistake and thanks to all who let us know about it!
Today's question:
Which designer is credited with creating the famous winged keel used by Australia II to win the 1983 America’s Cup?
A) Bruce Farr
B) Ben Lexcen
C) Germán Frers
D) Olin Stephens
Answer in the next newsletter...
Last Friday's answer: The city which hosted the very first SailGP event back in 2019 was Sydney, Australia.
