Three coaches with very different programmes behind them are up for Coach of the Year at the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards: a SailGP title defence, an ILCA 7 masterclass and a surging Nacra 17 squad all in contention.
Ben Durham (WA), back-to-back winner Rafael Trujillo OLY (QLD) and Darren Bundock OLY (NSW/ACT) make up the finalist field. The winners will be announced at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour on Friday 30 October, joining a roll of honour that stretches back through Olympic medallists and world champions.
Bundock's case rests on the depth he has built in the Nacra 17 squad. Australian crews finished fourth at back-to-back World Championships, with Rhiannan Brown and Brin Liddell fourth in 2025 and Archie Gargett and Sarah Hoffmann narrowly missing the podium in fourth at the 2026 Worlds. Brown and Liddell also sat inside the top 10.
Three of the squad's four crews posted top-10 results across the season. The European campaign added fourth (Brown/Liddell) and eighth (Gargett/Hoffmann) at the Europeans, bronze for Ruben and Rita Booth and fourth for Brown/Liddell at Kiel Week, and seventh and 11th at French Olympic Week.
A four-time Male Sailor of the Year in his own right, Bundock has led the way among Australia's national coaches in developing more effective on-water communication systems and embracing technology. He's known for calm, understated leadership, giving feedback that builds on athletes' strengths and helps them turn new insights into lasting habits.
Durham's Bonds Flying Roos had the standout season of the lot. The SailGP team became the first in the competition's history to win three consecutive events, taking Rio, Bermuda and New York in a row. That run followed victory at the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix in Auckland and a second at the Australian Sail Grand Prix in Perth, after finishing runner-up overall in the 2025 SailGP Championship.
Durham's reach extends well beyond SailGP, too. He guided a win on the Cape 31 International Circuit, second at the TP52 Super Series in Italy, fifth at the RC44 World Championship with Artemis Racing, and fourth on the Swan 50 circuit with One Racing. He also led the SailGP Development Sailor Program in 2026, mentoring Zoe Thomson, Zoe Dransfield, Grae Morris, Shaun Connor, Harry Price and Jack Ferguson.
Trujillo, chasing a third straight title, guided Matt Wearn through one of the most dominant campaigns of his career as the two-time Olympic champion returned to international ILCA 7 competition in 2025-26. Wearn won every major regatta he contested, including the Princesa Sofía Regatta, French Olympic Week and the San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta on the Los Angeles 2028 racecourse, and claimed his seventh Australian ILCA National Championship.
Trujillo has also maintained one of the strongest and deepest ILCA squads in the world. Zac Littlewood finished fourth at the 2026 European Championships, while Ethan McAullay placed fourth at the 2025 European Championships, seventh at French Olympic Week and 12th at the 2026 Europeans.
