Judges for the 2001 British Nautical Awards

Britain's best in boating are to be decided by some of the industry's most distinguished and talented personalities at the most prestigious and glamorous boating event of the year, the British Nautical Awards, 4 January 2002, London.

The British Nautical Awards are unique in that nominations are open to anyone; public and professionals alike can nominate via a plethora of mediums, including post, email, fax and a number of marine websites such as www.rya.org.uk Following the very open and public nomination process, an elite judging panel is set the task of narrowing down the nominations to, first a shortlist; and finally overall winners. The process takes 6 to 8 weeks to complete, during which time the judges set about researching and vigorously testing the people and products up for the most coveted Awards on the British boating calendar.

This year's judges include:

Peter Nicholson - (Chairman of the Judging Panel) Having raced on everything from dinghies to keelboats and ocean racers, and worked in the marine industry for over 40 years, Peter is well placed to mediate and guide the judging process for the British Nautical Awards. Peter's past roles include Chairman of Camper & Nicholson's Ltd, Chairman of National Boat Shows and council member for the BMIF. He remains a Director of Crest Nicholson Plc and is currently a trustee of the BMIF, Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron and Chairman of the RNLI.

Peter Bentley, a top international yachting photographer and journalist, is the recently appointed Chairman of the Yachting Journalists' Association. He is well known in the industry for his impressive marine images and online editorial, as well as technical contributions to well respected sailing publications.

Rod Carr, the RYA Secretary General, has an impressive record that includes several Olympic yachting campaigns as both Coach and Manager. He represented the UK as the Deputy Chef de Mission to Team GBR in the Sydney 2000 Olympics and has also been extremely successful in attracting new funding from the Sports Lottery Fund World Class Initiative.

Sarah Donohue is a stunt powerboat driver and talented powerboat racer with eight year's hard offshore driving experience and a top placing in this extremely male dominated sport. Following a horrific boating crash in 1999, the ex-Bond girl has made a remarkable recovery and return to powerboat racing, recently finishing 1st in the Gibraltar Championships and 2nd in the National Series for R&R Racing. Sarah will imminently relaunch her career at sea by competing in the 2001 National and European Championships for R&R Racing.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the first person ever to sail non-stop single-handed around the world and, in 1994, co-skippered Enza's win of the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe. In his 8-year tenure as President of the national sailing charity, the Sail Training Association, he spearheaded their £11 million campaign to build two new ships for young people. He is currently Chairman of Clipper Ventures Plc, the AIM quoted yacht racing, marine events, hospitality and training company best known for the biennial Clipper round-the-world race for identical 60ft yachts.

Shirley Robertson, MBE, achieved success in her third Olympic Regatta campaign by winning a gold medal in the Europe Class in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and in doing so made history as the first British woman to win a medal in a single-handed boat. Other successes in the Europe Class include three silver medals in the World Championships. Shirley was awarded the ISAF/Sperry award for Female World Sailor of the Year 2000.

Jonty Sherwill, a product stylist and interior designer, runs his own company, Sherwill Design. In 1998, along with Stephen Jones and Seaquest Yachts, he was winner of the Yacht of the Year Award for the Prima 38 One-design cruiser-racer. He has been a member of the British Nautical Awards judging panel since 1999. Also a talented sailor, Jonty was Skipper of the 1999 Admiral's Cup Commonwealth Team's Sydney 40 'Turbo UK', and is four times Cowes Week class winner. Well respected within the industry, Jonty Sherwill is also a Member of the Concours d'Elegance judging committee for the America's Cup Jubilee.

John Walker has been involved in the marine industry for 35 years as a journalist and a racer. He specialises in powered vessels from RIBs to super yachts and, having retired from powerboat racing in 1992, is currently the Event Director for the Cowes Classic Offshore Powerboat Race, and contributing editor to Motor Boats Monthly. John also runs his own project management consultancy covering everything from design & construction of powered craft to event management.

Created in 1999 to bring the various award schemes together into one stable, the British Nautical Awards represent all that is praiseworthy, innovative and groundbreaking in British boating. They are an amalgamation of the previously separate Royal Yachting Association (RYA), British Marine Industries Federation (BMIF) and the Yachting Journalists' Association (YJA) Awards.