Voting now closed on YJA Yachtsman of the Year Awards

Ian Atkins, President of DMM, in action at Cowes Week with his son Sam © boats.com

New sponsor boats.com looks ahead to gala ceremony in London next week

Voting has now closed on the Yachting Journalists' Association's (YJA) prestigious YJA Yachtsman of the Year award, sponsored for the first time this year by boats.com, the global online resource for boating enthusiasts to explore, discover and research. boats.com announced their involvement in the highly prestigious award just two weeks ago.

The shortlist of nominees was revealed in December and comprised a host of top names from the sport, with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Giles Scott and Miranda Merron making the shortlist for their outstanding achievements during 2014.

These include Sir Robin, at age 75, finishing third in his class in the solo transatlantic Route du Rhum, a race in which Miranda also achieved sixth place in her class.

Meanwhile Giles Scott maintained an impressive unbeaten run in his return to Finn class sailing by securing back-to-back world titles alongside a string of other victories. All three are in contention to receive the top award at next week's gala ceremony in London, on Tuesday 13th January at Trinity House.

The boats.com Young Sailor of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala event, with the shortlist comprising up-and-coming young talents Calum Rosie, Emma Wilson and Kamila Czartolomna. Calum was the first Scot in 12 years to win the Under 16 International Topper Sailing World Championships in 2014, whilst 15-year-old Emma won windsurfing's under-17 and under-19 world championship titles. Meanwhile Kamila became the first girl in more than 10 years to be crowned national Honda RYA Youth RIB Champion in the 13-16 age group.

The YJA organises the nominations and elections for the YJA Yachtsman of the Year Award and Young Sailor of the Year Awards, which are decided by a members' vote.

Along with its parent company Dominion Marine Media (DMM), boats.com is proud to be supporting these well respected and highly competitive awards for the next three years. DMM has an ongoing commitment to driving boat sales globally, supported in large part by the rich and insightful editorial content it provides through boats.com and other group portals YachtWorld, U.S.-based Boat Trader and Cosas de Barcos. The quality of journalism, together with the quantity of boat reviews, video tests, boat show coverage, showcases and general boating knowledge have ensured that DMM has become the most prolific publisher of marine related content in the world - making DMM and boats.com an ideal partner for the YJA over the coming years.

Ian Atkins, president of Dominion Marine Media and boats.com, commented: "This new partnership with the YJA represents a perfect fit for boats.com and the wider group, as we continue to focus on building the range of top quality editorial content across all DMM's portals. As a long-time competitive sailor myself, I felt strongly about being involved in a framework that rewards the most deserving yachtsmen, and I'm delighted that boats.com is now part of these historic awards. The shortlist for this year looks as strong as ever, and we're really looking forward to crowning the winners at next week's ceremony."

The Yachtsman of the Year Award was established in 1955 by Sir Max Aitken, Battle of Britain pilot, chairman of Express Newspapers, and a leading yachtsman in both sail and power. Previous winners of the award include Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Dame Ellen MacArthur and four-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie.