BOARDS / UKWA Windsurfer of the Year 2011

BOARDS Mag once again need your help in deciding who will be the UKWA Windsurfer of the Year 2011…

The boys and girls at the UKWA have been hard at work, furiously whittling down the long list of worthy sailors who have performed exceptionally in their field over the last 12 months. It’s now down to five nominees from the five disciplines of Wave, Slalom, Speed, Freestyle and Racing.

So this is where you come in. In true reality TV style, you the windsurfing public get to decide who, out of the cream of talented sailors below who will receive the accolade of UKWA Windsurfer of the Year 2011.

The nominees for WOTY 2011 are:

Ben Proffitt

WAVE – Ben Proffitt

Ben is a larger than life character who started windsurfing at the age of nine and would have represented us in the Olympics if not for a back injury. He has gone on too much greater things now in wave sailing and a lot of hard work and training during the winter season in South Africa has obviously paid off. Ben has dominated the UK scene this year with two bullets and two 2^nd places and won the legendary Tiree event in its 25^th year.

Ant Baker

SLALOM – Ant Baker

Ant Baker has been racing slalom since he could walk; turning pro at the tender age of 16. He competed successfully in the PWA tour in waves and Slalom and was consistently in the top 10. His career since then has taken him all over the world but he has now settled back in the UK, running the Baker Academy. Ant still has what it takes in competition winning this year’s very competitive BSA – UKWA Slalom title with 3 wins out of 5 races.

Zara Davis

SPEED – Zara Davis

Zara has been our queen of speed for some time now. She holds two speed world records, and is the ranked No 1 in women’s speed in the world right now. This season however has been one of the best in her career to date. Starting with achieving a new women’s production speed record in Namibia then winning three rounds of the Euro speed tour to become the ISWC European champion for the second time. She also won Weymouth speed week for a record 6^th time as well as the women’s British GPS 2011 ladder.

Adam Sims

FREESTYLE – Adam Sims

A very popular guy on the freestyle scene, he is always friendly and approachable. The student fraternity will surely also be keen to vote for him as he attends all their events to offer help and advice. Adam has finally proved that he can compete with the top freestyle guys Bubble and Max this year by winning the UKWA 2011 Freestyle Tour with a solid performance including two event wins, two second and one third places. He also made it into third place in the NWF Night Tow in Freestyle Contest. Adam also competed in the PWA Freestyle Event in Podersdorf, Austria this year and achieved a creditable 25^th place.

Kieran Martin

Racing – Kieran Martin

Kieran is a mere 16 years old but has achieved a lot in his short career. He was under 15 European Champion and collected a bronze medal as the UK’s representative at the first ever youth Olympics. 2011 has seen Kieran make the transition to RS:X further loading his busy schedule. However despite the different techniques needed to compete on RS:X Kieran has not neglected his Techno and at the World Championships in san Francisco Kieran was once again crowned under 17 World Champion. Hastily packing away his Techno Kieran then jumped on his RS:X finishing an astounding 3rd overall in the under 19 fleet.

BOARDS / UKWA Windsurfer of the Year 2011

Your vote counts – so use it wisely at ukwindsurfing.com/woty

Only one vote per person, voting closes on the 30th December and the winner will be announced the 1st week of January 2012.

UKWA logo

Who will be the UKWA windsurfer of the year? In true reality TV style, you the windsurfing public get to decide who will receive the accolade of ‘UKWA Windsurfer of the Year 2010’.

With so many worthy candidates percolating to the top of an ever-deepening pool of UK talent, narrowing the choices down is becoming tougher each year. But to help make it a bit easier for you the boys and girls at the UKWA have been hard at work furiously whittling down the nominees into five from across the spectrum of windsurfing.

Your nominees for WOTY 2010 [cue drum-roll] are…

WAVES – Robby Swift

Robby Swift

Photo: Simon Crowther

What a season for Robby Swift again this year. A lot of hard work and training during the winter season in Maui has obviously paid off, and in PWA Slalom he’s worked his way up through the rankings despite a height and weight disadvantage against the big guns. This has all been down to sheer bloody-minded determination and perseverance – but it’s the waves where Robby has really stood out. Last year he finished in 3rd place overall and as this is being written is currently lying 6th with two events to go in the PWA 2010 Tour. Don’t let his good looks and talent put you off voting for him!

SLALOM – Ross Williams

Ross Williams

Photo: PWA / John Carter

Ross started the season with a 13th, but this unlucky number didn’t put him off at all and he followed it with a 5th and 6th place at the next two PWA Slalom events. Ross, hailing from the Isle of Wight, has never been far off the pace over the last five years, and has consistently demonstrated that he has the ability to challenge Albeau, Maynard and Dunkerbeck at the top. He’s a quiet, unassuming character, but with buckets of talent and currently lying 9th overall with events to come. He definitely deserves a lot of votes.

SPEED – Steve Thorp

Steve Thorp

Photo: Oisin Van Gelderen

‘Thorpy’ has been speedsailing since God was a boy, but you wouldn’t know that looking at him. He still looks like a teenager! He’s not a natural build for a speedsailor at a diminutive 5’10″ and 75kg, but that definitely doesn’t stop him. Currently ranked top 10 in the all-time world GPS ranking and fifth for 2010 (he was leading for most of the year) with a GPS max of 47.9 knots and a 45.3 knot 10 second average at West Kirby. Steve’s main advantage in speedsailing is that he has no fear or regard for his personal safety. He deserves your vote for that balls out attitude alone.

FREESTYLE – Max Rowe

Max Rowe

Photo: Dave White

The new rising star of PWA Freestyle, Max Rowe from Colchester is impressing all who see him perform. 2010 was his rookie season on the World Tour, but at just his third PWA event he managed to beat Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers in Fuerteventura with some very impressive sailing to finish an awesome 11th. Max was nominated last year and did well, so he obviously has a strong fan base – and deservedly so.

RACING – Izzy Hamilton

Izzy Hamilton

Photo: Richard Langdon / Ocean Images

Popular Skandia Team GBR sailor Izzy Hamilton has made great leaps forward over recent years. Izzy, a product of the RYA pathway having had a successful career on Techno and now sailing on RS:X, is a prolific achiever at National level. In 2009 she was crowned RS:X Youth World Champion, and in 2009 and 2010 won Silvers at the Volvo ISAF Youth World Championships. Recently she made the Medal race at Sail For Gold 2010. Izzy is now pushing previous Windsurfer of the Year Bryony Shaw very hard, and continues pushing for top international honours. Course racers are always a popular choice for this coveted award, so Izzy’s a definite contender.

Please post your vote online at ukwindsurfing.com/woty/

Only one vote per person. Voting closes at the end of October, and the winner will be announced at the UKWA Ball in November.