Three officials with vastly different patches, from grassroots club regattas to World Championship juries, have been named finalists for Official of the Year at the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards.
Malcolm Hughes (SA), Evan McHugh (NSW/ACT) and Paul Pascoe (VIC) make up the shortlist. The awards night runs at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour on Friday, October 30.
Hughes has been an Australian Sailing National Race Officer since 2013 and is regarded as one of South Australia's leading officials. During the 2025-26 season he was Race Officer at Youth Sail SA, the Australian Sharpie, Flying Fifteen and Fireball National Championships, several State Championships, and the Adelaide to Port Lincoln Yacht Race and Lincoln Week Regatta.
His input goes well beyond race day. Hughes works with clubs on Notices of Race, Sailing Instructions and volunteer rostering, and runs South Australian Race Officials Seminars to bring new officials through. Those who have worked with him describe him as kind, warm and generous with his time.
McHugh, by contrast, spent the full three-week span of the 2026 Sail Port Stephens regatta on duty, taking on mark boat work, Protest Committee duties and Deputy Race Officer roles across the cruising, grand prix, multihull and off-the-beach fleets. He holds a stack of Australian Sailing qualifications, from National Race Officer and Regional Judge to Equipment Auditor and Mark Layer.
He was Principal Race Officer at Lake Keepit Sailing Club's 57th Keepit Kool Regatta and Cairns Yacht Club's Ellis Beach Regatta, camping on site to keep regional sailing accessible. He also helped pull together the club network behind YouthSail NSW at Toronto Amateur Sailing Club, running the iQFOiL and Wing Foil course and filling in wherever needed, car park marshalling included.
Pascoe's patch is global. The longest-serving international race official in Australia, he has held national and international judge status since 1990, and during the nomination period officiated at six events outside Australia, including chairing the jury at the A Class Catamaran Worlds in New Zealand and the Etchells Worlds in San Diego.
He also chaired juries at the Far East Cup and J80 international regattas in Beihai and Ningbo, China, and sat as a jury member at the China National Games. At home, he was Regatta Chairman for Sail Melbourne and Principal Race Officer for the Aero Nationals at Blairgowrie, the Victorian Optimist States and the Optimist Kings Cup.
Given that résumé, it comes as a surprise that this is Pascoe's first nomination for the award.
