Expert international judging panel announced for World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award

Expert international judging panel announced for World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award © World Sailing

A judging panel drawing in expertise from across sailing, sustainability and the maritime industries has been named for the 2023 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award.

Launched in 2018, the award celebrates the delivery of high-impact, highly replicable sustainability initiatives aligned with the World Sailing Sustainability Agenda 2030.

Nominations for this year's World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award, the highest recognition of success in marine sustainability, have now closed.

Nominations were received from across Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Oceania. Nominees included projects to address gender diversity, encourage greater participation from under-represented groups, sustainability of boat manufacturing and sailing competition. World Sailing's expert panel of judges will now select four finalists. A public vote will be held in October to decide the winner.

The four finalists will be announced on 25 September 2023.

The judging panel has been chosen from across sailing, sustainability and maritime industries, and represents a diverse range of backgrounds, skills and experiences.

Meet the judges

• Lizzie Carr: Adventurer, author, campaigner, cancer survivor, endurance paddle boarder Lizzie is one of today's most prominent environmental voices, with her inspirational efforts reaching more than 85 million people globally. Lizzie became the first person in history to paddle board the length of England's waterways, solo and unsupported, plotting more than 20,000 examples of plastic waste. She launched Planet Patrol, a non-profit movement and crowd sourcing app combining community action and disruptive technology to tackle wider issues affecting freshwater environments. To date, almost half a million pieces of litter have been recorded in the app across 113 countries.
• Chris Dickerson: Former Major League Baseball player, Chris Dickerson co-founded Players for the Planet, an organisation that brings professional athletes together to inspire communities and build awareness of the growing environmental crises we face globally by participating in major recycling, conservation and clean-up programs, as well as sponsoring educational seminars.
• Nuno Gomes: A passionate sailor, geologist, university lecturer and coordinator of the degree program on Environmental Engineering, 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 Vice President of the Angolan Nautical Sports Federation, VP of the African Sailing Confederation, member of the World Sailing Sustainability Commission.
• Lijia Xu: China's second ever gold medallist in sailing, Lily competed in three Olympics, winning bronze in Beijing 2008 and gold at London 2012. She is now an on-camera presenter for events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, SailGP, The Ocean Race, and the 2023 Allianz Sailing World Championships.
• Julie Duffus: An experienced sustainability professional, Julie currently leads on sustainability at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Her focus on challenging strategies, management and strategic social, environmental, economic and ethical advice for a wide variety of international projects, and she works as an existing relationship manager with UN Agencies and has a thorough understanding of how societies and their institutions, economies and environments interact to influence sustainable development and the adaptability of livelihoods and communities to both environmental and political change.
• Bruno Giuntoli: Sustainability Manager at Foiling Week, a World Sailing Special Event, and founder of the Foiling SuMoth Challenge which brings students together from around the world to design, manufacture and sail a sustainable Moth.
• Todd McGuire: Managing Director of 11th Hour Racing, sponsor of the award. Todd is also a lifelong sailor, from the weeknight series in his hometown of Newport, R.I., to competing in larger regattas around the world. Todd leads 11th Hour Racing's sponsorship program, which supports organizations and events interested in reducing their environmental impact and enables them to become leaders in ocean health.

World Sailing and 11th Hour Racing encourage entries from individual sailors, sailing clubs, events, classes, federations, and the wider marine industry, no matter how big or small their programme or initiative may be.

Past winners of the award have all demonstrated a commitment to reducing their environmental impact and raising awareness around conservation.

Winners will receive a $10,000 USD prize to further their sustainability programme.

The award will be presented to the winners at a live gala award ceremony on 14 November 2023 at the 2023 World Sailing Awards in Málaga, Spain, at the World Sailing Annual Conference.