The Rolex World Sailor of the Year 2019 honors 3 women and 4 men who have made their mark on sailing over the past 12 months. Among the nominees are three Frenchmen: Francis Joyon, winner of the 2018 Route du Rhum, windsurfer with 25 world championship titles Antoine Albeau and Delphine Cousin, Funboard world champion.
The two winners euros one man and one woman euros will be announced on during the World Sailing Awards ceremony to be held in Bermuda on October 29, 2019. The public vote, which counts for 50% of the results, will be possible from October 22.
Women nominees
Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA) Euro 2018 PWA World Tour Slalom Champion
Violeta del Reino (ESP) - Para Sailing World Championship in Hansa 303 2019
Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN) - Laser Radial World and European Champion 2019
Men nominees
Antoine Albeau (FRA) Euro 2018 PWA World Tour Slalom Champion
Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (AUS) Euro 470 World Champions, Euro 470 European Champions and Hempel World Cup Series winners
Marco Gradoni (ITA) euros Optimist World Champion in 2018 and 2019
Francis Joyon (FRA) euros Winner of the Route du Rhum euros Destination Guadeloupe
Return on the prize list of the three Frenchmen
Delphine Cousin
Frenchwoman Delphine Cousin has won no less than seven PWA World Tour tournaments in the slalom and foil disciplines in the past 12 months. In fact, she won the 2018 slalom world champion title, the third of her entire career and the first since 2014.
In 2019, she distinguished herself by winning the PWA Tour slalom events in Marignane (France) and Ulsan (South Korea) and finishing 2nd at the Waterz Festival in Hvide Sande, Denmark. In foil, she won the Fly 2019.
Antoine Albeau
euros 47-year-old Antoine Albeau of Rhaetia won his 25th world championship title on the 2018 Pro Windsurfers Association World Tour. He started windsurfing at age 5 before turning professional in 1992. Since then he has accumulated national and international titles making him one of the greatest windsurfers of all time.
A specialist in slalom, freestyle and wave racing, Antoine Albeau kept the 117 other windsurfers at bay, winning the 2018 PWA World Tour Slalom. Over the 6-race series, he finished off the podium just once. He also finished third in the 2018 Foil World Championship, keeping the distance with the "little" kids.
In 2019, Albeau is still aiming for a 26th world title and is ranked third in slalom after four events.
In addition to his success at the World Championship, Albeau also holds the windsurfing speed record since 2015 reaching 53.27 knots.
Francis Joyon
While he participated in his first Route du Rhum in 1990, it was finally in 2018 that he wins of the most famous single-handed transatlantic race. It was his 8th participation and he was 62 years old when he arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) on his trimaran Idec Sport, at 23 h 21 min 7 s on November 10, only 7 minutes and 8 seconds ahead of François Gabart (Macif).
He even took the opportunity to set a new record with 3,542 miles covered in 7 days, 14 hours and 21 minutes.
This last one tackles a new series of records in Asia which he will complete solo and with a crew on his Ultime Idec Sport.
