Awarded to a member for the most meritorious voyage.

2006

Larry and Maxine Bailey (Shingebiss – 43’) –  who have just completed a 14 ½ year circumnavigation at the age of 74 from Seattle, Washington via some of the Aleutian Islands south to Mexico, Central America, Galapagos, Chile, Cape Horn, Antarctica, Falklands, S. Georgia. Tristan de Cunha, St. Helena, Cape Verdes, Canaries and then the Mediterranean for 3 years.  After that it was up to circumnavigate Ireland and on to Scotland, back to Wales and a period in London followed by a season in the Baltic. From there to the Faroes, Greenland, New Foundland, Nova Scotia and down the east coast of the USA to circumnavigate Cuba.  On to Florida, across to Bermuda and the Azores back to the Canaries and then south to Cape Town.  From Cape Town across to Freemantle and on to circumnavigate Tasmania and then to New Zealand, the South and North Islands before heading north via Fiji, Vanuatu, Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands then on to the westernmost of the Aleutian chain; Attu.  They then sailed the complete set of Aleutian Islands as far as Dutch Harbour, Unalaska before crossing over to Alaska at Kodiak.  From there to Prince Rupert in Canada and back home to Seattle.  They are justly proud of the fact that in all those miles and years they had remained staunchly self-sufficient and never, once had to make use of emergency outside assistance.

2005

In a 15m, specially ice strengthened boat built by Jarlath, mostly alone, launched in  2001, Paddy Barry and Jarlath Cunnane with their crew successfully sailed the Northwest passage in 2002 from Westport, Ireland. They completed the first east to west polar circumnavigation in October 2005.  The four-year voyage began in Westport, County Mayo in June 2001 and took them through the Northwest Passage to Alaska and Western Canada where they spent the next two years cruising.  In 2004 they sailed to Russia, wintering the yacht at Khatanga, Siberia when stopped by the ice.  In 2005 they completed the voyage to Ireland via the Norwegian coast and the Caledonian Canal.

2004 - John Ridgway - English Rose VI - for his 327-day circumnavigation, with his wife to publicise the impending extinction of the mighty albatross (all 21 varieties are now on the endangered list).  They voyaged, uninsured, unsponsored and funded entirely out of their own savings to collect more than 100,000 signatures to present to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation.  They sailed down to Cape Town and onwards to the Southern Ocean Islands of Marion, Crozet and Kergeulen and then to Australia, New Zealand, the Falklands and back to London. The birds are being killed at an estimated rate of 100,000 a year by fishermen trailing 50-mile strings of hooks.

2003 - Tony Gooch - for the first singlehanded non-stop circumnavigation ever from the west coast of North America.

2002 - Peter Passano - Sea Bear - for his 13 month, 21,500 mile, cruise from Virginia, USA to the Azores, Ireland, England, Spain, Portugal, the Canaries, Brazil, South Georgia, South Africa, St Helena, Bermuda and back to Maine, USA aboard his 39ft cutter Sea Bear. Much of the cruise was sailed single-handed, and when Peter signed on crew it appears to have been more for their company (and cooking!) than for assistance in sailing the boat.

2001 - Paddy Barry & Jarlath Cunnane

2000 - Ben Pester

1999 - Fran Flutter

1998 - Roger Wallis

1997 - Andy & Margaret Engwirda

1996 - Willy Ker

1995 - Bob Shepton

1994 - Mike and Pat Pocock

1993 - Geoff Payne

1992 - Willy Ker

1991 - Denise Evans

1990 - Michael Johnson

1989 - Frank Mulville

1988 - Gulshan Rai

1987 - Not awarded.

1986 - Mark & Amanda Wilson

1985 - Liz & Anne Hammick

1984 - Jack Christofferson

1983 - Not awarded.

1982 - John Gore-Grimes

1981 - Wendy Moore