Stan Honey (Palo Alto, CA) and Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, FL) are US SAILING’s 2010 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. They will be honored at a luncheon at the New York Yacht Club in New York, NY on February 25, and will each receive a specially-engraved Rolex timepiece.
Honey, previously nominated for the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award in 2006 as the Volvo Ocean Race winning navigator aboard ABN Amro One, is the second American in the history of the award to receive the honor for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe. With Honey as navigator, the trimaran Groupama 3 made the fastest non-stop circumnavigation under sail in history with an elapsed time of 48 days, seven hours and 45 minutes to claim the Trophée Jules Verne.
“I am honored to receive the US SAILING Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award,” said Honey. “It is humbling to read through the list of previous winners. As an American, it was an unexpected opportunity and honor to be asked to sail with the legendary all-French Groupama offshore multihull crew. Groupama 3’s success in the Jules Verne is a tribute to Franck Cammas’ leadership and the seamanship of the entire crew. I would also like to thank Rolex and US SAILING for all they do to support sailing.”
Having been shortlisted for the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award for the sixth consecutive year, Snipe Women’s World Champion Anna Tunnicliffe is the first woman to earn it three consecutive years. In 2009, Tunnicliffe, previously ranked number one in the world in the Laser Radial, committed to a match racing campaign in the Elliott 6 Metre with a goal of racing in the 2012 Olympic Games. In just two years, she has moved from 36th to fourth in the match race rankings. During 2010, Tunnicliffe raced in the Elliott 6 Metre to win US SAILING’s Rolex Miami OCR; place second at Semaine Olympique Française in Hyères, France; and take third at Skandia Sail For Gold in Weymouth, England.
Tunnicliffe won the XII International Women’s Match Race Criterium in Calpe, Spain, sailed in Tom 28s, and was second at the Toyota International Match Race in Detroit, Michigan in Ultimate 20s. She picked up a bronze medal in the match racing event at Kieler Woche in Germany and placed third in the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup in Annapolis, MD, sailed in J/22s.
