Top local skippers Blythe Walker and Malcolm Smith head the list of potential winners for the inaugural Omega Sailor of the Year Award during next week’s ceremony to be hosted by Bacardi International.

Both sailors produced some outstanding performances competing in their respective classes last summer.

“We have a lot of great sailors here in Bermuda. And so we wanted to acknowledge their hard work, dedication and accomplishments both here and abroad,” commented BSA programme director Deb Gravelle. Last October IOD skipper Walker became the first Bermudian to win the King Edward VII Gold Cup Petite Final since Peter Bromby achieved the feat in the 2002 regatta. The 38-year-old skipper defeated Switzerland’s Eric Monnin three to two in the best-of-five final series to finish in third place in the 58th edition of the prestigious sailing spectacle. He also won the Bacardi Nationals and Anna-Roed IOD Match racing regattas.

Smith, who captured a first South American and Caribbean Sunfish Championship in the Netherlands Antilles last month, also produced some highly impressive performances in 2006.

The three-time World Sunfish champion and Pan Am Games silver medallist finished second in the Byte Worlds hosted locally, fourth at the North American Sunfish Championships, runner up in the Bermuda Laser Nationals and 23rd at the Sunfish Worlds to cap off another memorable season. Snipe skipper Maria Stephani and Laser Radial skipper Katrina Williams top the shortlist of nominees for the 2006 Female Sailor of the Year.

Stephani placed a respectable fifth at the Women’s Snipe World Championship while Williams produced a string of impressive finishes competing overseas on the ISAF (International Sailing Association Federation).

Junior Laser Radial and Byte skipper William Hutchings and Optimist sailors Haley Powell and Joshua Greenslade are the frontrunners for the Youth Sailor of the Year.