When a great sailor nominates his Sailors of the Year.

There continue to be so many nominations we are receiving via email at speciali@panamaeditore.it! You have until December 15 to tell us who you think should not be missing from the initial piston of 100 nominees for the 2017 Sailor of the Year, the most prestigious award in Italian sailing. We want to offer you a “model” application: this one was sent to us by the very strong 470 player Simon Sivitz Kosuta (with Jas Farneti, World and European Junior 470 gold medalist in 2012 among other many achievements, which count a European bronze medal in 2016 also in 470). And it is wonderful that it is a great sailor himself who nominates two “colleagues.”

“FOR ME YOU HAVE TO NOMINATE…”
“In the ‘shortlist’ of the Sailor of the Year candidates,” Simon wrote us, “cannot miss Francesca Russo Cirillo, an athlete from the Barcola Grignano Sailing Society, who took home the overall 420 world title for the second time. Very importantly she won it as a coxswain, after the 2014 world championship where she won as a bowwoman. So she is the ‘only athlete in history to have won two world championships in two different roles in the 420 class.

Giovanni Coccoluto, a Yellow Flames athlete who achieved some of the most important results of his sailing career in the Olympic standard laser class in 2016, cannot miss either. We cannot fail to mention the bronze medal at the European Absolute Championship in the Canary Islands, or the bronze at the World Cup stage in Quingdao, to finally mention that he is currently no. 2 in the world ranking and is racing in Australia to bring home that ‘last point that separates him from the top of the ranking list. Looking forward to new updates, I extend my warm greetings to you.
Simon Sivitz.”

YOU CHOOSE THE CANDIDATES!!!
We repeat ourselves: to point us to the candidates is really you, right from the start, as you are doing! You will have until Dec. 15 to notify us by emailing us at. speciali@panamaeditore.it, who do you think deserves to be included in the “shortlist” of 100 nominees for the 2017 Sailor of the Year, complete with your reasons . Cross-referencing your submissions with those of the editorial staff will come up with all the names from which you can then vote for your favorite on our website.

WHO YOU CAN NOMINATE
Your choice should fall on Italian sailors, whether they are athletes (derivists and specialists in Olympic classes), boat owners and sailors (i.e., ocean sailors or those who have otherwise shown off their skills in “long sailing”) Who distinguished themselves in 2016. But not only that. Every owner knows that the boat has a soul: so you will be able to nominate winning offshore and classic boats. The voting operation of the 2017 Sailor of the Year is summarized below.

HOW THE 2017 SAILOR OF THE YEAR WORKS
Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m., will take place at the VELAFestival in Santa Margherita Ligure (Genoa), during the Evening of Champions, the awarding of the 2017 Sailor of the Year. But how does one come to award the most prestigious prize in Italian sailing? With a long and “hard” online selection process where your input is crucial. We explain it in detail, step by step.

– FIRST STAGE (CHOICE OF CANDIDATES)
– Submission of readers’ candidates, from 5 p.m. Nov. 28 to noon Dec. 15, 2016 with an email to speciali@panamaeditore.it. Your proposals, cross-referenced with those of the editorial staff of the Sailing Newspaper, will go to make up the list of 100 candidates

– SECOND STAGE (WINNING VOTE) – FROM 100 TO 50 CANDIDATES.
– 100 CANDIDATES to vote online on our website from 1 p.m. Jan. 30 to noon Feb. 15, 2017
– The 50 highest vote-getters pass the round

– THIRD STAGE (WINNING VOTE) – 50 to 25 CANDIDATES.
– 50 CANDIDATES to vote online from 1 p.m. March 3 to noon March 15, 2017
– The 25 highest vote-getters pass the round

– FOURTH STAGE (CONSULTATIVE VOTE) – 25 to 5 CANDIDATES.
– 25 CANDIDATES to vote online from 1 p.m. March 31 to noon April 14, 2017. The online public vote has advisory value: taking into account your preferences, a jury selects the 5 who pass the round

– FIFTH PHASE – CHOOSING THE SAILOR OF THE YEAR (AND OTHER AWARDS)
-The 5 CANDIDATES make up the shortlist of “papayees” for the 2017 Sailor of the Year. These will compete, based on jury decisions, for the Sailor of the Year award and the others: TAG Heuer “#dontcrackunderpressure,” TAG Heuer “Innovation,” TAG Heuer “Performance,” and TAG Heuer Young. The winner will be revealed during the Evening of Champions, starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 5, 2017 at the TAG Heuer VELAFestival in Santa Margherita Ligure (Genoa).