The CYCA’s Kairos Racing team has taken out the prestigious Team of the Year award at the 2026 Australian Sailing Awards in a glittering event in Sydney last Friday.
Skipper Cole Tapper and his crew of George Richardson, Jack Frewin, Max Brennan, Hamish Vass and Nathan Gulliksen are all CYCA Members and made history at this year’s Congressional Cup, where Tapper became the youngest to win the prestigious match-racing event.
The national award follows the team’s success in taking out the NSW/ACT award earlier this year.
Fellow CYCA Member Jiang Lin just missed out on the Female Sailor of the Year award for her Overall win in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with the title taken out by Stacey Jackson.
The award season continues for Kairos Racing and Jiang, with both announced as finalists in the 2026 NSW Sports Awards.
The winners of those awards will be announced at the gala NSW Champions of Sport Ceremony at The Sydney Event Centre, The Star, Pyrmont, on Monday 23 November. The Ceremony will also see CYCA Member David Pescud OAM inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions.
2026 Australian Sailing Award Winners
Female Sailor of the Year – Stacey Jackson (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, QLD)
Male Sailor of the Year – Matt Wearn OAM OLY (Royal Perth Yacht Club/Fremantle Sailing Club/Australian Sailing Team, WA)
Team of the Year – Kairos Racing (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, NSW/ACT)
Para Sailor of the Year – Genevieve Wickham (Royal Perth Yacht Club, WA)
Noakes Group Male Youth Sailor of the Year – Rory Meehan (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron/Australian Sailing Squad, QLD)
Noakes Group Female Youth Sailor of the Year – Mia Austin and Zara Marks (Woollahra Sailing Club, NSW/ACT)
Coach of the Year – Rafael Trujillo OLY (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron/Australian Sailing Team, QLD)
Club of the Year – Category A – Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (WA)
Club of the Year – Category B – Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club (SA)
Innovation Award – Southport Yacht Club – Summer on the Lake (Southport Yacht Club, QLD)
Instructor of the Year – Ian Fox (Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, VIC)
Official of the Year – Malcolm Hughes (Adelaide Sailing Club, SA)
SheSails Award – South Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta (Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, SA)
Sport Professional Award – Greg Rowlings (Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, TAS)
Sport Promotion Award – Sail Port Stephens (Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club, NSW/ACT)
Volunteer of the Year – Emma Hooper (Sandy Bay Sailing Club, TAS)
