Maximilian Maeder up for young sailor gong at 2024 World Sailing Awards
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Singaporean kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder is one of the four nominees for World Sailing's Young Male Sailor of the Year award.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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SINGAPORE – Singaporean kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder added another feather to his cap when he was among the nominees for World Sailing’s Young Male Sailor of the Year released on Oct 21.
The 18-year-old, who wrapped up his season by claiming the Formula Kite European youth title
The teenager began his season in February by bagging gold at the Fuerteventura KiteFoil International Open Cup in the Canary Islands and has won almost every trophy on offer this season, including retaining his world championship and European titles.
He also snagged a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics
Maeder’s feat in France made him just Singapore’s sixth and youngest medallist at the Olympics.
The winners of the World Sailing awards will be announced at a ceremony on Nov 5 at Chijmes Hall in Singapore.
Singapore Sailing president Lincoln Chee said: “To be nominated for Young Sailor of the Year is a singular achievement not many can claim. Max had certainly earned this recognition together with his family and team.”
He believes that Maeder’s achievements have had a wide impact on the local sailing scene, encouraging and inspiring the national sailors.
Chee added: “The impact for kite sailing in Singapore may be limited due to the constraints we have in access to this sport.
“However, the impact on Singapore Sailing’s ecosystem and stakeholders is great because we have what it takes, technically and financially, to help any Singaporean sailing world-class talent succeed on the global stage.”
Also in the running for the men’s Young Sailor of the Year award, which recognises the achievements of sailors under 21, are Italy’s Vittorio Bonifacio, Australia’s Grae Morris and Denmark’s Magnus Overbeck.
Bonifacio, together with his mixed dinghy partner Lisa Vucetti, won both the youth world and European titles in 2024.
Grae clinched silver in the iQFoil at the Paris Olympics, becoming Australia’s first windsurfing medallist since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Overbeck won the SailGP Inspire season 2023-24, as well as the youth and world titles at the 2024 WASZP Games.
The nominees in the female category are Ireland’s Eve McMahon, Poland’s Ewa Lewandowska, Greek pair Iakovina Kerkezou and Danai Giannouli, and Argentina’s Maria Catalina Turienzo.
In 2023, Maeder became the first Singaporean nominated for the Male Sailor of the Year award at the world body’s annual awards, following a monumental year that saw him become the youngest world champion in any Olympic sailing class competition.
The accolade eventually went to Tom Slingsby, who guided Australia to a third consecutive SailGP title, for the third time.
This year’s award will be contested by Spain’s 49er Olympic champions Diego Botin and Florian Trittel, who were part of the team that won the fourth season of the SailGP championship; Peter Burling who skippered New Zealand to their third consecutive America’s Cup; Italy’s Ruggero Tita, who with Caterina Banti retained their Nacra 17 Olympic gold and won the world championship; and Australian ILCA 7 sailor Matt Wearn, who won the world championships and gold at the Olympics.
Up for the women’s gong are Dutch 49erFX pair Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz, the Paris Olympics gold medallists; Britain’s Olympic kitefoiling champion Eleanor Aldridge; Dutchwoman Marit Bouwmeester, who became the most successful female Olympic sailor of all time with her gold in Paris; and South Africa’s Vuyisile Jaca, the first black African female to circumnavigate the globe in 2024 and one of just three black females to round Cape Horn.
The World Sailing Awards was launched in 1994 to recognise the outstanding achievements of individual and team sailors.
Online voting is open to all here
