International experts named as judges for the 2025 World Sailing Awards

World Sailing Awards © World Sailing

World Sailing has named 11 global sports experts to judge this year's World Sailing Awards. The panel, with backgrounds in sailing, sustainability, and maritime industries, will review all entries and select shortlists for each award.

• The shortlists will be announced on 16 October 2025.
• A public vote will then be held to decide the winners.
• The winners will be announced at a live award ceremony in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland, as part of the 2025 World Sailing Annual Conference.

Meet the judges:

Julie Duffus: An experienced sustainability professional, Julie currently leads on sustainability at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Her focus is on challenging strategies, management and strategic social, environmental, economic and ethical advice for a wide variety of international projects. She also works as a relationship manager with UN agencies and has a thorough understanding of how institutions, economies and environments influence sustainable development and the adaptability of communities to both environmental and political change.

Nuno Gomes: A passionate sailor, geologist, university lecturer and responsible for the Environmental Engineering Graduation at Universidade Católica de Angola, Nuno is also a board member at engineering and environment consulting company SOAPRO S.A in Angola where he is responsible for the renewable energy and environment projects. He is also a member of the Angolan National Olympic Committee, Vice President of the Angolan Nautical Sports Federation, Vice President of the African Sailing Confederation, and a member of the World Sailing Sustainability Commission.

Santiago Lange: A previous winner of Rolex World Sailor of the Year, in 2016, Argentinian Olympic sailor and naval architect, Santiago has represented his country at the Olympic Games seven times over 32 years, winning a gold and two bronze Olympic medals, along with winning four world champion titles. His gold medal at Rio 2016 was made even more remarkable after a battle with lung cancer in 2015. He has also competed in the Ocean Race and America's Cup.

Lorraine McKenna: Sponsorship Director at 11th Hour Racing, Lorraine works closely with events, athletes and teams to ensure that sustainability goals are achieved. Before joining 11th Hour Racing in 2019, Lorraine spent eight years working in the sailing industry on marketing and sponsorships. Seeing first-hand the power of harnessing sporting platforms and athletes to communicate the message of sustainability and ocean stewardship, Lorraine knows the importance of collaborating with events and teams to maximise exposure, impact, and to help influence change within the sport and beyond.

Andy Rice: Andy Rice has won championships as a helm and crew in many skiffs and dinghies including the 49er and International 14 classes. As a sailing journalist, he has reported on every major event from the Olympics to the America's Cup, The Ocean Race and the Vendée Globe. He works as a writer and live commentator at a range of keelboat, kiteboarding and wingfoiling events as well as most of the Olympic circuit. In 2020, in partnership with Olympic and America's Cup coach Hamish Willcox, Andy launched Road To Gold, an online programme that helps sailors and coaches assemble the building blocks of a world-beating sailing campaign.

Lijia Xu: Asia's first gold medallist in dinghy sailing, Lily competed in three Olympics, winning bronze in Beijing 2008 and gold at London 2012 - an achievement which won her the 2012 Rolex World Sailor of the Year award. She is now working in the media for international events including the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games, SailGP, The Ocean Race, and World Sailing Championships. She is also an active environmentalist, raising the awareness of Ocean Health. She is still sailing actively in different classes all over the world, looking to become a professional sailor in future.

Philip Baum: Former President of South African Sailing, World Sailing Vice-President, and member of the African Sailing Confederation Executive Committee. Philip is a lifelong sailor who has competed at an international level in both dinghies and keelboats, representing South Africa in the Youth Sailing World Championships in the Laser and competing in World Championships in the Finn and J22 Classes as well as 19 World Finn Masters regattas. Baum is also an accomplished offshore sailor, having competed in Sydney-Hobart, the Cape to Uruguay Race and the Mauritius to Durban Yacht Race as well as sailing to South Georgia. He has won several national titles and competed at youth, senior and masters level.

Jo Aleh: Jo Aleh is a two-time 470 Olympic medallist, winning gold at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016 for New Zealand. She also competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in the Laser Radial and in the 49er FX in Paris 2024. A world champion in the 420 in 2007 and 470 in 2013, Jo also won Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award in 2013. In 2002, she became the first woman to win the Tanner Cup.

Dave Hughes: Dave Hughes is a six-time keelboat world champion with over 20 national and North American wins in classes like the J/70, J/24, Etchells, J/24 and more. However, in the small boat universe the two-time Olympian and former US Olympic Team coach is best known for his dinghy credentials in boats like the 49er, 505, and 470 in which he has posted world, European, and World Cup titles. When not competing, Dave gives back to the sport by serving as Vice President of World Sailing and chair of the governing body's Athlete's Committee.

Henriette Smith: Henriette Smith is a leading Norwegian Para sailor, recognised for her successes and commitment to inclusivity. Alongside Solfrid Kvinnesland as "Team Sailing Grace," she competes in the RS Venture Connect class. In 2023, they became world champions and consistently rank among the top in their category. Smith also serves as the Para Inclusive Sailing representative on the World Sailing Athletes' Commission, advocating globally for Para sailors.

Sam Davies: Sam Davies is an engineer and accomplished offshore racer with four Vendée Globe and two Ocean Race entries. She supports Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque through Initiatives-Cœur and holds a Cambridge engineering degree. Starting competitive sailing at 24, she captained IMOCA Initiatives-Cœur and joined IMOCA Biotherm for the Southern Ocean leg of The Ocean Race. After the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, she announced her next challenge: co-skippering the 2025 Transat Café de l'Or with Violette Dorange.

For more details about the World Sailing Awards and instructions on how to vote, visit the World Sailing website.

The 2025 World Sailing Annual Conference is organised and supported by Irish Sailing and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.