There has never been any doubt that Skandia Team GBR's 49er team Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks are anything but excellent sailors. 2006 has seen a string of accomplishments for the Olympic bronze medallists (Simon also has a silver from Sydney to his name) further proving they are a force to be reckoned with out on the water.
Following on from the spectacular performance in 2006, Draper and Hiscocks have been awarded the 2006 British Olympic Association Athlete of the Year award for sailing.
Draper and Hiscocks accepted the award, given to the sailor with the best medal score of 2006 (where medals won at the Olympic Test Event and World regattas were weighted heavier than medals won at European and Grade One Regattas) at the recent Skandia Team Gbr Awards Dinner and Presentation, held to celebrate the success of the 2006 sailing season.
On winning the award, Hiscocks has nothing but praise for his fellow team mates and rivals. It s great to win the BOA award for sailing. The standard of British sailing is incredibly high so to be selected from a group of really talented sailors means a lot to us.
2006 has proven to be the most successful year since the Athens Olympic Games for this strong partnership, with Chris and Simon winning four medals at major championships including a silver medal at the Princess Sophia Trophy and a Silver medal at the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta.
The current 49er World Champions sealed a gold medal at the 2006 49er World Championships after putting their consistent sailing to the test in the light and shifty French breezes.
Chris and Simon went on to cap off their season in the challenging conditions found in Qingdao. The pair dominated the top slots throughout the regatta finally securing a gold medal in what will be the venue for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Hiscocks continues We ve had a good year, winning the World s and the Pre-Olympics and performing well at key events when it matters. We haven t always been as consistent as we would have like but we performed well the result really mattered.
Looking forward to 2007 there is really only one thing on our minds and that s to win that slot for the 2008 Olympic Games. We want it as much as anyone else and in the next year we re going to take all of our lessons learned and put them into practice. Chris and I have an Olympic bronze and a silver medal between us and we re hoping to get a shot at winning gold. You re only as good as your last race so we re going into 2007 with a clean slate and a new set of goals to meet.
RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park also recognises the achievements made by Draper and Hiscocks. Chris and Simon have had a fantastic year to win gold medals at both the Olympic Test Event and at the 49er Worlds. In most classes they would be miles ahead of all the other sailors, but not in the 49er. We ve got some top level sailors challenging for the top slots and at the moment it is uncertain who will earn the 49er berth for the 2008 Olympic Games.