Three volunteers from three different states will go head-to-head for Volunteer of the Year at the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards, one of the most closely watched categories on the night.
Chris Chatburn of South Australia, Gerard Del Favero from Queensland and Tasmania's Emma Hooper are all in contention. The awards will be presented at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour on Friday, October 30.
Chatburn's work has been at Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, where she took on the Volunteer Coordinator role on the General Committee and turned what had been an informal, background job into a recognised leadership portfolio. Volunteers & Club Culture is now the first pillar of the club's Strategic Plan 2026-2036.
She has rebuilt the club's volunteer base, reaching out to people who had drifted away and finding roles that suit each person's strengths. Twilight racing, Discover Sailing, the Secondary Schools Teams Sailing Championships and the Goolwa-Milang Regatta Weekend have all run on her coordination, along with training in first aid, marine radio and race management. She also introduced public recognition of volunteers at race presentations and started the club's Volunteer of the Year award and Celebration of Volunteers social night.
In Queensland, Del Favero is known around the regatta circuit as Tinaroo Sailing Club's "Master Rigger", often taking other sailors' rigging home overnight and handing it back race-ready the next morning. He gives his time, expertise and sometimes his own materials, splicing Dyneema and fixing fittings for sailors regardless of club, state or experience.
In 2025 he volunteered as Australian Team Manager at the O'pen Skiff World Championships in Japan, coordinating coaches, equipment and logistics while supporting Australian families, including his own two daughters, who were both racing. The campaign culminated in Australia winning the Under 17 World Championship. Despite his national and international involvement, Del Favero remains committed to grassroots sailing, volunteering at Tinaroo every sailing day and taking new sailors, particularly adults, out on the water as a qualified Australian Sailing Instructor.
Hooper leads around 80 to 90 percent of Sandy Bay Sailing Club's racing each year as Race Officer. She was pivotal in delivering the Australian Teams Racing Championship, where 280 races were completed over four days, and stepped in at short notice as Race Officer for the Australian 29er National Championship, cutting short her own holiday so the event could go ahead.
She has recently qualified as a National Race Officer and is working towards International Race Officer accreditation. She also serves on SBSC's Sailing Management Committee.
For more than a decade Hooper has supported the International Cadet class, serving as Secretary and President of the Tasmanian association, President of the Australian association for three years, and since 2018 on the International Cadet Class World Council, which she has chaired for the past three years. Among her proudest achievements is coordinating the team effort that relaunched the Indian Cadet Class after a gap of some 20 years.
She first became involved as a parent of three sailors, wanting to support the sport her children loved. More than a decade on, her impact reaches far beyond her own family.
