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Emirates Team New Zealand collected the top honour at the 2025 Barfoot & Thompson Yachting Excellence Awards on Friday night, with the inaugural Peter Lester Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sailing also introduced in honour of the much-loved late sailor, coach, and commentator.
The America's Cup defenders received the Sir Bernard Fergusson Trophy as Orbit World Travel Sailor of the Year following their third consecutive victory in the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona last year. Their triumph over INEOS Britannia delivered an unprecedented three-peat, cementing their status as one of the most successful teams in the competition's history.
A delegation including Richard Meacham and Ray Davies accepted the award on behalf of the team, who have already begun preparations to defend the Auld Mug again in Naples in 2027.
Meacham said Emirates Team New Zealand - recently named World Sailing's 2025 Team of the Year - were humbled by the award, and he highlighted Yachting New Zealand's role in creating pathways for nurturing and developing the country's sailing talent, which has produced many of the team's top sailors and shore crew.
Earlier in the evening, the first Peter Lester Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sailing was presented to Mark Mulcare, a former blind world champion who has contributed more than 20 years of service to keelboat and club racing. Mulcare, who lost his sight in his teens and has battled ill health in recent years, manages New Zealand's nationwide keelboat handicapping system, developed the popular Race Track database, and supports clubs nationwide through his roles on Yachting New Zealand's Cruising, Inshore and Offshore Racing Committee and the PHRF committee.
Yachting New Zealand chief executive Steve Armitage said the award recognises volunteer service aligned with the standards Lester set throughout his career.
Lester, who passed away in August, held roles across coaching, performance management, and broadcasting, including serving as Yachting New Zealand's first high-performance director.
"Peter's contribution was never just technical or tactical - it was deeply human. He inspired generations with his honesty, his storytelling, and his unwavering commitment to excellence," Armitage said. "This award honours individuals, clubs, and organisations who have made a significant and lasting impact on sailing in New Zealand, an ethos Peter embodied throughout his life. Our hope is that this tribute not only recognises his extraordinary legacy but continues to inspire those who follow in his wake."
Megan Thomson and her 2.0 Racing Team were named Barfoot & Thompson Female Sailor of the Year after finishing runners-up at the 2025 Women's Match Racing World Championship in Chicago. Thomson, Tiana Wittey, Josi Andres, Charlotte Porter, and Hattie Rogers pushed five-time world champion Pauline Courtois to a deciding race in the final, matching their 2024 silver-medal result.
Kiwi wingfoiling star Sean Herbert received the Barfoot & Thompson Male Sailor of the Year award following a strong season. The 23-year-old Aucklander won bronze at the Formula Wing World Championship in Sardinia, added another bronze at his World Cup debut in Switzerland, won the US Wingfoil Championships, defended his national title, and secured both the national Triple Crown and Hawaii State titles.
Olympian Paul Snow-Hansen was named B&G Performance Coach of the Year, while Sophia Morgan received the Yachting New Zealand Emerging Coach of the Year award. PredictWind Emerging Talent awards went to Blake Batten and RS Feva world champions Zofia Wells and Charlotte Handley.
iQFOiLer Stella Bilger won the NZL Sailing Foundation Young Female Sailor of the Year, and Mattias Coutts took out the NZL Sailing Foundation Young Male Sailor of the Year. Bilger claimed gold at the iQFOiL under-23 World Championships in Portugal earlier this year, leading a Kiwi one-two with teammate Aimee Bright. Coutts, 19, won the 2024 PredictWind Moth World Championships, the 2025 Moth Nationals, and the 2024 STACK Winter Champs. He has since begun a 49er campaign with Oscar Gunn while maintaining strong Moth results, including top finishes at Foiling Week and the 2025 Moth Worlds.
Kohimarama Yacht Club won the Evocean Sustainability Award for the Marama Project, the country's first full restoration and electrification of a 23-foot committee boat. Volunteers, youth sailors, and local marine specialists helped replace the diesel engine with a solar-powered electric system, providing silent, off-grid operation.
Lucas Hebberd received the MAST Academy Young Leadership Award for strengthening Murrays Bay Sailing Club's Learn to Sail programme, expanding training opportunities, and organising family-focused events.
Sailability Wellington received the North Sails Sportsmanship Award for leading the development of the ParAble yacht, a larger, more adaptable boat for disabled sailors now recognised as a national class.
Ryan Parkin was named Millennium Hotels and Resorts NZ Official of the Year after earning selection for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup following a 12-month development pathway.
The complete list of winners at the 2025 Barfoot & Thompson Excellence Awards winners:
Yamaha Motor NZ Service Awards: Graham Catley, Aevril Hibbard, Grant Innes, Gwenda Johnson, Kevin Lidgard, Blair Park, Larry Paul, Paul Pearson, Wayne Radford, Brett Willcock.
Kiwi Yachting and Baltic Lifejackets Cruising Award: Bruce Maunsell.
Appliances Online Youth Performance Awards: Ella Arnold and Ben Roff, Matteo Barker, Stella Bilger, Aimee Bright, Mattias Coutts, Xervier Doney, George Pilkington, Jake Pye, Summer Torbet, Chloe Turner, Zofia Wells and Charlotte Handley, Westlake Girls High School sailing team.
Radix Nutrition Performance Awards: 2.0 Racing Team, Emirates Team New Zealand, George Gautrey, Sean Herbert, Knots Racing, Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, Anna Merchant and Aaron Hume-Merry, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Admiral’s Cup team, Veerle ten Have.
Yachting New Zealand Emerging Coach of the Year: Sophia Morgan.
B&G Performance Coach of the Year: Paul Snow-Hansen.
PredictWind Emerging Talent Award: Blake Batten, Zofia Wells and Charlotte Handley.
MAST Academy Young Leadership Award: Lucas Hebberd.
North Sails Sportsmanship Award: Sailability Wellington.
Evocean Sustainability Award: The Marama Project.
Millennium Hotels and Resorts NZ Official of the Year: Ryan Parkin.
The Peter Lester Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sailing: Mark Mulcare.
NZL Sailing Foundation Young Female Sailor of the Year: Stella Bilger.
NZL Sailing Foundation Young Male Sailor of the Year: Mattias Coutts.
Barfoot & Thompson Female Sailor of the Year: 2.0 Racing Team.
Barfoot & Thompson Male Sailor of the Year: Sean Herbert.
Orbit World Travel Sailor of the Year: Emirates Team New Zealand.
