France's Charlie Dalin and Switzerland's Justine Mettraux took centre stage at the 2025 World Sailing Awards, held this week at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Both offshore sailors were named 2025 Rolex World Sailors of the Year for their outstanding performances in the latest Vendée Globe.
Dalin, skipper of Macif Santé Prévoyance, broke the solo non-stop round-the-world race record, crossing the line in 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds. That effort left the previous benchmark more than nine days behind, a margin that underlines just how comprehensively the record was rewritten.
Mettraux sailed Teamwork-Team SNEF into the history books as the fastest woman ever to complete a non-stop circumnavigation, finishing eighth overall in 76 days, 1 hour and 36 minutes. The two award winners were chosen through a combination of 17,480 public votes and the assessment of an international expert panel, a process that reflects both popular enthusiasm for their feats and the high regard of their peers.
[gallery td_gallery_title_input="Justine Mettraux during the Vendée Globe 2024-25" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="139490,137355,138918,135369,136457"]
The ceremony gave equal billing to the sport's next generation. Greece's Nikolaos Pappas and Spain's Marta Cardona Alcántara both received Kuehne + Nagel Young World Sailor of the Year awards. Pappas, aged just 13, won the Optimist World Championship in Slovenia against 213 competitors. Cardona had an equally striking year, claiming both the 470 Mixed European and World titles within weeks of first joining forces with Olympic medallist Jordi Xammar.
Environmental initiatives and technological innovation each had their moment in the spotlight. The 11th Hour Racing Impact Award went to the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES Project, a joint effort led by Natural England and the Royal Yachting Association to restore and protect seagrass meadows across southern England. The project rehabilitated eight hectares of seagrass, put eco-moorings in place, and connected with more than 29,000 people through education and outreach.
A further milestone came with the first presentation of the World Sailing Technology Award, which went to Vakaros for its RaceSense system. The precision timing and tracking platform has been taken up across more than 250 events and is now used by over 6,000 sailors worldwide.
Emirates Team New Zealand was named World Sailing Team of the Year, adding another honour to those earned from the team's third consecutive America's Cup victory in Barcelona. Bernard Bonneau received the Beppe Croce Trophy for his decades of influence on the Racing Rules of Sailing, and the President's Development Award was presented to Singaporean leader Jevan Tan in recognition of his work advancing inclusive and sustainable sailing programmes across Asia.
Now in its 31st year and supported by Rolex, the World Sailing Awards brought together the sport's broadest range of achievers, from solo circumnavigators redefining what is possible at sea to a 13-year-old announcing himself to the world from a dinghy fleet in Slovenia.
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