Jobson to host awards

Rolex World Sailor of the Year ceremony to be held in Helsinki early November

Renowned sailor, television commentator and author Gary Jobson will host the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner and Ceremony in Helsinki, Finland on 7 November 2006. Jobson will host an evening dedicated to a year in sailing and the outstanding achievements of the six female and five male sailors nominated for the sailing world’s most prestigious Awards of recognition.

Jobson has one of the sailing world’s most recognizable voices and presented the World Sailor of the Year Awards twice before, in 1994 and 1995. He is also one of only three Rolex Ambassadors in the sport of sailing. His association with Rolex stretches back to the 1970s.

Successes On The Water

On the water, Jobson has won many championships in one design classes, the America's Cup as tactician with Ted Turner (USA) in 1977, the Fastnet Race and many of the world's ocean races. In college he was an All American sailor three times and was twice named College Sailor of the Year in 1972 and 1973. He is also an active cruising sailor having led ambitious expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica and Cape Horn. He currently races his Etchells and owns a Sabre 402.

Jobson himself can list an impressive rol l call of awards. In 1999 he won the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, US SAILING’s most prestigious award presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing in the USA. Four years later he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame by the Herreshoff Marine Museum.

Voice Of Sailing

Jobson has been ESPN's sailing commentator since 1985. In 1988 he won an Emmy for his coverage of yachting at the Olympic Games in Pusan, Korea. More recently, he covered the 2003 America’s Cup in Auckland for ESPN and Sailing World and the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition in Athens for NBC. He has authored 14 sailing books and is Editor at Large of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines. His newest book is titled Championship Sailing.

Jobson’s involvement with sailing extends into many avenues of the water as well. He is the National Regatta Chairman of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's sailing programme, has given nearly 2,000 lectures throughout the world over the past 25 years and serves on the board of numerous sailing committees.