2014 Tom Larmour Awards

The Sailor of the Year award went to Alex Llewellyn. The Commodore stated that Alex had been very helpful and co-operative with the coaches and with other younger sailors, committed to training and exemplary in his behaviour and actions in dealing with others. He was also assisting to coach the Optimist Gold Squad on Sundays. The Tom Larmour Sailor of the Year trophy was then presented to Alex Llewellyn.

(special mention for Jacqueline Truhol – being other nominee)

The Commodore further specially mentioned Jacqueline Truhol who was one of the nominees for the Young Sailor of the Year award. She was also an exemplary member of the Sharks Squad and the Club looked forward to following her progress in the coming years.

The next award, for The Most Promising Sailor, went to Thorwen Uiterwaal this year. The Commodore explained that in the past year Thorwen had matured beyond his years, had risen to the top of the Hong Kong Optimist fleet and represented Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Sharks overseas. His behaviour was excellent and he was always happy to help newer sailors and pass on tips. His results from the past season had been consistently in the top three, winning the 2014 Hong Kong Race Week and finishing second at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club Spring Regatta. He also performed well overseas, finishing 42nd out of 184 entries at the Feva World Championships. He was definitely one of our up-and-coming young stars with the potential to perform highly at youth level. The Tom Larmour Most Promising Sailor trophy was then presented to Thorwen Uiterwaal.

The Commodore advised that the Club felt that the squads had reached the stage this year where a new award should be given which was purely results-based. This RHKYC Sharks Performance Sailor of the Year award went jointly to Calum Gregor and Hugo Christensson. He explained that Calum and Hugo had had a great year of sailing with some excellent results internationally, including finishing 14th at the 420 World Championships and 14th at the ISAF Youth World Championships, widely considered the Olympics of youth sailing. They had spent many of their training hours with the National Squad last season although they included themselves in Club squad activities wherever possible. Their attitude and approach to sailing was very professional and something we knew was a great example for the other younger Sharks to follow. Just over a week ago, Calum and Hugo lifted the overall winner’s trophy for the Club’s biggest sailing event, the Around The Island Race, having competed on the 420 dinghy against much older and more experienced sailors. They had matured into excellent role models as well as accomplished sailors and the Club looked forward to following their progress. The RHKYC Sharks Performance Sailor of the Year award was then jointly presented to Calum Gregor and Hugo Christensson.