Kaenon

Three renowned Kaenon Polarized sailors, Anna Tunnicliffe, Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez received nominations for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year award for the 2011 season. One of the most prestigious honors in the sport of competitive sailing, the award recognizes excellence and achievement in the sport over the course of the year.

“It is such an honor to be nominated for this award,” said Tunnicliffe, a three-time nominee and SOY winner in 2009. “The nominees for 2011 have had amazing years and it’s truly a surprise to be on the list with them.”

This marks Anna Tunnicliffe’s third nomination for the award, which she won in 2009. The nomination comes at an interesting time in Tunnicliffe’s career, as she is in the process of making a discipline switch, from the singlehanded Olympic Laser, winning Gold in 2008, to crewed Match Racing, where her experience was previously limited. This year, however, Anna, who wears Kaenon Polarized Soft Kore White Pearl G12, quickly vaulted to the top of the World Rankings in her new discipline. Anna credits her team as a huge reason for the recognition.

“Molly [Vandemoer] and Deb [Capozzi] have been a huge part of this year’s success,” said Tunnicliffe. “Everything we did this year was a combo of the three of us; there is no one standout person on our team. Team Maclaren has been putting in an incredible amount of time both on and off the water and to be nominated for this award in recognition of our hard work is very satisfying.”

Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, who wear Kaenon Polarized Kore G12, have had a remarkable year, winning silver in the Barcelona World Race and at the Olympic qualifying event in Weymouth, UK. Their current schedule has them preparing as co-skippers in the Spanish entry at the Volvo Ocean Race kicking off next month, where they’ll race around the world, again, in search of the first race title for their country.

“Both for myself and Iker it is an honor to be nominated for the title of Sailor of the Year,” said Fernandez. “We have been working hard to combine offshore and Olympic sailing and that requires considerable effort both in sporting terms and in our family lives to be able to reach the top level in both disciplines. From the Beijing Olympics and to London 2012 we will have sailed three times around the world and it’s not easy to maintain this pace, so we are really pleased to receive this recognition.”

Martinez and Fernandez have been utilizing Kaenon Polarized as an essential piece of sailing gear since the early days of the brand. Using SR-91™ polarized lenses, both sailors, as well as fellow nominee Anna Tunnicliffe, gain a competitive edge with an increased ability to clearly read the breeze off of the water and superior protection from the elements with hydrophobic lens treatments and impact resistant materials. With roots deep in the world of sailing, Kaenon Polarized is proud to continue in supporting the world’s top sailors with performance eyewear built to function at the highest level and under the greatest stress.

The winners of the award will be announced in November at the ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year award presentation in Puerto Rico. Visit the Kaenon Polarized sailing website for more information on Kaenon Polarized sailing.

This entry was posted on September 29, 2011 and is filed under Sailing, Sports-Entertainment.
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