How do you pick World Sailor of the Year in a sport this diverse?

How do you weigh a kitefoiler’s season against a 40-day lap of the planet? Football has goals and assists; cricket has averages and wickets. Sailing has no common currency, which makes the Rolex World Sailor of the Year one of the trickiest prizes in sport to call.

On this week’s episode of The Foil Podcast, Neil Cole called the shortlist a case of “oranges and bananas”, while Freddie Carr reckons it’s ultimately “a bit of a vibey award”.

Look back through the roll of honour, though, and the vibe has leant heavily Olympic. The first winners, in 1994, were Sir Peter Blake and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston after their Jules Verne record on ENZA. Since then offshore names have broken through only occasionally – Isabelle Autissier, Pete Goss, Ellen MacArthur (twice), Mike Sanderson and Kirsten Neuschäfer – while Ben Ainslie alone has won it four times.

Last year’s winner, Charlie Dalin, was the first Frenchman to take the male award, Andy Rice points out – remarkable given how many French offshore greats, from Michel Desjoyeaux to the Peyron brothers, were nominated without success. French women have fared better, with Autissier, Claire Leroy and Marie Riou all winning. This year’s ceremony will carry a heavy heart: Dalin died in June, aged 42, having won the 2024–25 Vendée Globe while being treated for cancer.

Andy believes the pendulum is swinging offshore now that the public has more say and national federations less. Public votes count for half the result, with a nine-strong expert jury responsible for the other half and for drawing up the shortlist. Andy sat on that jury. “I’m not going to tell you who I did vote for!” he says, before conceding he’ll “probably give myself away at some point”. But with voting closed, he can’t sway anything now.

Here’s how the contenders stack up.

Thomas Coville (FRA) – In January Coville steered Sodebo Ultim 3 around the world in 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes and 50 seconds, taking 12 hours 44 minutes off Francis Joyon’s 2017 Jules Verne record, for his third Jules Verne win, but his first as skipper. The hardest test came at the very end. With Sodebo already nursing rudder damage from Storm Ingrid, Coville had the boat on bare poles in 10-metre seas in the Bay of Biscay, weighing the record against the risk of a capsize. Crewman Benjamin Schwartz told Freddie it was Coville’s leadership in those final hours that stood out. Coville may have shrugged “why me?” at his nomination, but a win would bring things full circle to 1994.

Max Maeder (SGP) – The Singaporean took his third Formula Kite world title in May in Viana do Castelo, then topped the open standings at September’s Europeans in Turkey. He's won every regatta he's entered this year, and he has become a poster child for Asian sailing. Does dominance in one discipline outweigh a circumnavigation?

Luuc van Opzeeland (NED) – Another Paris bronze medallist with a point to prove, the Dutchman won the iQFOiL European title in Portimão, then the world title in Weymouth, beating Noah Lyons in the grand final. Few things are harder than stringing titles together in such a jeopardy-heavy format, which makes the double all the more impressive.

Matt Wearn (AUS) – The double ILCA 7 Olympic champion returned after 15 months away and won in Palma, Hyères and at the LA 2028 venue in San Pedro. At the Worlds in Dún Laoghaire he climbed from ninth to silver on the final day, a point behind Hungary’s Jonatán Vadnai. For Andy, missing the one title that defines the season – to a first-time world champion – is the catch, making him the “right guy, wrong year”.

Paula Barceló and María Cantero (ESP) – Brand new as a pairing in 2025, they won the 49erFX Worlds in Cagliari at their first major regatta together, making Barceló the first sailor to win the FX title as both crew and helm. They then missed back-to-back titles by just a single point in Quiberon this year. Their coach, Xabi Fernández, is himself a former winner, having shared the 2011 award with Iker Martínez, his partner for 49er gold at Athens 2004. Why a duo is in the individual category, Andy couldn't say.

Maria Giubilei (ITA) – Giubilei won the Nacra 17 Worlds this year with Gianluigi Ugolini, but Freddie’s bigger argument is her America’s Cup work: she trimmed Luna Rossa to the 2024 Women’s America’s Cup, came within an OCS call of the Cagliari final in the the Italian W&Y AC40, became the first woman to sail the team’s AC75 then crewed with Peter Burling as Luna Rossa won in Naples.

Lauriane Nolot (FRA) – Silver at her home Games, Nolot broke her leg after Paris and threw herself into Hyrox cross-training before winning her third Formula Kite world title in May, ahead of Jessie Kampman. Andy has watched her snatch event after event on the final day, repeatedly overhauling the regatta leader when the pressure peaks.

Charlotte Rose (USA) – Rose became the first American to win the ILCA 6 Worlds since 2005, having nearly walked away after missing Paris selection. Andy notes the US hasn’t won Olympic sailing gold since Anna Tunnicliffe in 2008 (in Qingdao, the city hosting this year’s awards).

Diego Botín and Florian Trittel (ESP) – The 2024 male World Sailor of the Year winners came back to the 49er after nearly a year away to take their first world title in Cagliari last October, all while juggling SailGP duties. Topping that 2024 season won’t be easy for the Spanish duo. Yet in the next 20 months, they’ll be chasing the America’s Cup with the French team, as well as another SailGP title or two, plus a second Olympic gold at LA28. Their best may still be to come.

Luna Rossa (ITA) – The Italians won both AC40 Preliminary Regattas this year, beating Emirates Team New Zealand in each final. Freddie has his doubts, though: two build-up events is thin evidence.

Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris (GBR) – European champions in February, winners at the San Pedro test event, then 470 world champions in Enoshima, sealing it by winning the final medal race. Neil asked if theirs is the most complete season on the list; Andy thinks it could be.

Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush (NZL) – At 21, they became the youngest 49er world champions in the class’s 30-year history, then defended their European title. Menzies also co-helms Emirates Team New Zealand’s AC75 alongside Nathan Outteridge.

The Famous Project CIC – Alexia Barrier’s eight-woman crew, including Támara Echegoyen, became the first all-female team to sail non-stop around the world, finishing in 57 days, 21 hours and 20 minutes despite steering failures, a lost foil and a torn mainsail. Barrier yesterday became the first female Ultim skipper to complete the Route du Rhum.

Oranges, bananas or round-the-world records – who would you have picked? Let us know in the comments, and listen to the full debate on the latest episode of The Foil Podcast before the winners are crowned in Qingdao on 18 November.