Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has won the
prestigious title of Raymarine/YJA Yachtsman of the Year for the time.
Sir Robin completed the Velux 5 Oceans Race
at the age of 68, thirty-eight years after his original (the first non-stop)
solo circumnavigation of the world and was presented with the award by
Lady Pippa Blake. The awards ceremony, arranged by members of
the Yachting Journalists’ Association (YJA), was held at The Painted Hall,
The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Sir Robin made history in 1969 when he took 312 days to become the
first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in the Sunday Times
Golden Globe, sailing Suhaili. He said he entered the Velux 5 Oceans Race,
which finished in May 2007, to prove that age is not a barrier to getting
out and doing things in life.

Finalists for the title included World and Pre Olympic Champions
Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson; disabled sailor Geoff Holt, who
achieved his “Personal Everest” in 2007 by sailing around the UK single
handed; and Mike Golding, who won the Raymarine/YJA Special Award, for
risking his own life to rescue a fellow competitor in the Velux 5 Oceans
race in appalling Southern Ocean conditions, thus ruining his own chances of
winning the race.