Australian gold medalists all nominated for ISAF International Sailor of the Year

ISAF received nominations for the 2012 Awards from across the world for  sailors representing all aspects of the sport. The nominees are put forward  based on achievements made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 and  31 August 2012. Only one nominee wins from both the male and female category and  the names vying for the coveted and prestigious 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of  the Year Award are:

Male
Ben Ainslie (GBR) - Finn - London 2012 Olympic Gold  Medallist & 2012 World Champion
Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page (AUS) - Men's 470 - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions  and 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
Nathan Outteridge and Iain  Jensen (AUS) - 49er - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists & 2011 and 2012  World Champions
Loick Peyron - (FRA) Outright Around the World Record
Tom  Slingsby (AUS) - Laser - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2011 and 2012  World Champion

Female
Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega and Sofio Toro  (ESP) - Women's Match Racing - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
Helena  Lucas (GBR) - 2.4mR - London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist and 2011-12 ISAF  Sailing World Cup Champion
Saskia Sills (GBR) - RS:X - ISAF Youth Sailing  World Champion & European Youth Champion
Lijia Xu (CHN) - Laser Radial - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist

The achievements of the 2012 nominees are:

Males Nominees

Ben Ainslie (GBR)

Ben Ainslie eclipsed Paul Elvstrom's (DEN) Olympic achievements at London  2012 by winning his fifth Olympic medal and fourth consecutive gold to become  the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. It was fitting that a Danish  sailor, Jonas Hogh-Christensen, stood in the way of Ainslie at London 2012 as a  game of cat and mouse developed ensuring the Medal Race was one of the most  anticipated of the competition. Ainslie held off Hogh-Christensen finishing  ninth to the Danes tenth to win gold in front of a partisan home crowd and  secure his place in the history books.

Finn
London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
2012 World  Champion

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page (AUS)

Over the past 12 months, Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page have amassed eight  consecutive regatta victories including the Olympic Games, two 470 World  Championships and four ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas. With three consecutive  World titles since they teamed up in 2009, Belcher and Page were the undisputed  favourites for gold at London 2012. Given a run for their money by British  rivals who took an early initiative, the Australian team held firm in the Medal  Race to take the title and consecutive gold medal success for Malcolm Page, the  first time this has ever been achieved in the class.

Men's Two Person Dinghy, 470
London 2012 Olympic Gold  Medallists
2011 World Champions
2012 World Champions
2011-2012 ISAF  Sailing World Cup Champions

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS)

Childhood friends Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen have raised the bar in  the 49er class since they teamed up in the class in 2009. The Australians have  been a permanent fixture on podiums and only a second place at the 2012 Semaine  Olympique Francaise tarnishes a near perfect record since they claimed their  second 49er World Championship at the Perth 2011 ISAF Worlds. A successful  defence at the 2012 49er Worlds in Zadar, Croatia teed them up nicely for the  run up to London 2012 where they crushed the opposition to win gold with a race  to spare.

Men's skiff, 49er
London 2012 Olympic Gold  Medallists
2011 World Champions
2012 World Champions
2011-2012 ISAF  Sailing World Cup Champions

Loick Peyron (FRA)

On 6 January 2012 at 22:14 UTC Loick Peyron entered the history books as he  and 13 crew aboard the 40m maxi trimaran Banque Populaire V smashed the Outright  Around the World Record to become the fastest men around the planet. At an  average speed of 19.75 knots it took just 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53  seconds for Peyron to sail the 21,600 nautical miles and claim the Jules Verne  Trophy. The team also set two new intermediate records for Equator to Equator at  32d 11h 52m and the Indian Ocean record at 8d, 7h 23m. Loick Peyron is amongst  the most decorated offshore sailors of all time with his success spanning single  handed, two person and crewed ocean racing right through to the America's  Cup.

Banque Populaire V, maxi trimaran
Outright Around the  World Record

Tom Slingsby (AUS)

Coming into the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition Tom Slingsby was  unbeaten on Weymouth and Portland waters and the overwhelming favourite to take  gold. Determined to banish his Beijing 2008 demons Slingsby did not fail to  impress and took the gold medal in style to become the first Australian sailor  to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Slingsby's road to London included wins  at the 2011 and 2012 Laser World Championships to give him three consecutive  titles and two ISAF Sailing World Cup regatta wins.

Men's One Person Dinghy, Laser
London 2012 Olympic  Gold Medallist
2011 World Champion
2012 World Champion

Female Nominees

Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega and Sofio Toro  (ESP)

The Spanish women's match racing team tore apart the form book at the London  2012 Olympic Sailing Competition to win the gold medal in spectacular style.  Echegoyen, Pumariega and Toro, ranked #8 in the world, sailed an emphatic round  robin series and never looked back. Defeating the medal favourites every step of  the way they squared up against the Australian team in an epic big wind final.  It all came down to a nail biting winner takes all decider and Echegoyen,  Pumariega and Toro held their nerve to take the ultimate prize.

Women's Match Racing
London 2012 Olympic Gold  Medallist

Helena Lucas (GBR)

Helena Lucas (GBR) added a bit of girl power to the open 2.4mR fleet at the  London 2012 Paralympic Games as the only female sailor in the fleet. Three  former Paralympic gold medallists were amongst her 15 rivals but Lucas made  light work of them taking four bullets in the 10 race series to clinch the gold,  and Great Britain's first ever Paralympic sailing medal. After winning a  collection of silver and bronze medals to secure the 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World  Cup title, standing on top of the podium at London 2012 was a victory worth  waiting for.

One Person Keelboat, 2.4mR
London 2012 Paralympic  Gold Medallist
2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion

Saskia Sills (GBR)

At only her second international RS:X regatta Great Britain's Saskia Sills  won Under 17 gold at the RS:X European Championship aged just 15. Less than two  weeks later Sills stormed to gold at the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing  World Championship in Dublin, Ireland, leaving the defending champion in her  wake. In August this rising star of windsurfing did the World and European  double, winning nine of 13 races at the EUROSAF Youth Sailing European  Championship.

Girl's Windsurfing, RS;X
2012 ISAF Youth Sailing  World Champion

Lijia Xu (CHN)

Lijia Xu reigned supreme in the Laser Radial Medal Race at London 2012 to win  the first Olympic gold medal in a dinghy for China. In a four-way fight for  supremacy, Xu sailed a clinical race to seal the deal with a race win leaving  her rivals scrapping for the other medals behind her. After winning the bronze  medal in Beijing 2008, Xu was relatively quiet on the international stage and  sustained a hand injury in her final preparations for her second Olympic Games.  Returning to form at just the right time, Xu won three ISAF Sailing World Cup  regattas in strong fields and the silver medal at the 2012 Laser Radial Worlds  to enter the Olympic Games as the dark horse in the hunt for medals.

Women's One Person Dinghy, Laser Radial
London 2012  Olympic Gold Medallist

The Voting
The winners are selected by the ISAF  Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing  around the world. The MNAs are now invited to vote for the male and female  nominee they believe most deserves the Award.

The winners will be announced at the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year  Awards presentation and dinner, taking place on Tuesday 6 November 2012. The  venue for the event is the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland.

Each winner will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of  the Year Award Trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

Full profiling of each nominee and their achievements will be available on  the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards microsite at sailing.org/worldsailor starting 4 October

As sourced from www.mysailing.com.au