Paige with many of her awards, including a US Flag flown over the US Capitol in Washington DC.
At the International Sailing Federation Annual Conference in Helsinki, Finland the male and female winners of the 2006 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the year award were announced.
The two winners were selected by vote from a shortlist of 11 nominees by the 121 member National Authorities, which make up the International Sailing Federation.
The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards Dinner and Presentation took place at Wanha Satama, an historic warehouse in the heart of Helsinki. World renowned sailor, television commentator and author Gary Jobson hosted the event 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. Each winner was presented with the coveted ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Trophy and a Rolex timepiece.
Nineteen year-old Paige Railey of Clearwater, Florida was selected as the ISAF Rolex Female World Sailor of the year for her outstanding sailing accomplishments during the twelve months ending August 2nd, 2006.
1st – Laser Radial World Championship 2005, Fortaleza, BRA – ISAF Grade W – Dec 2005
2nd – Rolex Miami OCR, Miami, USA – ISAF Grade 1 – Jan 2006
1st – Laser Radial North American Championship, Fort Lauderdale, USA – ISAF Grade C1 – Feb 2006
1st – Laser Midwinter’s East, Clearwater, USA – ISAF Grade 1 – Feb 2006
8th – HRH Princess Sofia Trophy, Palma de Mallorca, ESP – ISAF Grade 2 – Apr 2006
1st – Semaine Olympique Française, Hyères, FRA – ISAF Grade 1 – May 2006
1st – ISAF World Sailing Games, Neusiedl, AUT – ISAF Grade 2 – May 2006
18th – Laser Radial European Championship, Riccionne, ITA – ISAF Grade C1 – Jun 2006
1st – Qingdao International Regatta, Qingdao, CHN – ISAF Grade 2 – Aug 2006
ISAF World Sailing Ranking position at the end of the nomination period – 1st
Paige has been sailing with the Clearwater Yacht Club since she was an eight-year-old green fleet sailor, learning to race in Optimist dinghies. She now competes in the Laser Radial and her goal is to medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Clearwater Yacht Club Commodore, Dr Robert Gunther said how proud he was to hear that Paige Railey had been honored with the world’s highest competitive sailing award. Commodore Gunther commented it was particularly remarkable that this award would be made to such a young athlete and noted this was the first time this award had been made to a USA woman. He congratulated Paige and her parents, Dan & Ann, for their uncompromising commitment to the sport of competitive sailing.