{"id":82959,"date":"2026-02-16T13:38:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=82959"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:22:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:22:42","slug":"grondin-and-cayard-earn-rolex-yachtswoman-and-yachtsman-honors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/racing\/grondin-and-cayard-earn-rolex-yachtswoman-and-yachtsman-honors\/","title":{"rendered":"Grondin and Cayard earn Rolex Yachtswoman and Yachtsman Honors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Paul Cayard and Laura Grondin, Rolex Yachstsman and Yachtswoman of the year. <\/span>\n Lexi Pline\/US Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

US Sailing announced the winners of its 2025 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards. Paul Cayard was named the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, while Laura Grondin was named the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. These awards recognize their exceptional accomplishments in the sport of sailing over the past calendar year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A seasoned veteran on the racing scene, Cayard has no shortage of titles to his name. His mainstay has been the Star Class, where in 2025 he won the World Championship, triumphing over a fleet of 100-plus boats. This championship win is Cayard\u2019s second Star World title \u2013 37 years after his first World\u2019s win in 1988. He also placed third at the Star North American Championship. Outside of Star sailing, Cayard is an accomplished tactician, winning the Voiles des St. Tropez on Twin Soul B. This will be his second Rolex, following his win in 1998. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside his accomplishments in 2025 for which he was awarded the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, Cayard is one of the most experienced American sailors to date. He has competed in the Olympics, America\u2019s Cup, and Whitbread Round the World Race (now The Ocean Race), winning the Louis Vuitton Cup aboard the Italian Il Moro de Venezia in 1992 and Whitbread aboard EF Language in 1998. He competed in the 2004 Olympics in the Star Class for the United States, placing fifth overall. Since then, Cayard has been involved in the management side of the sport, serving as the Director of America One Racing and President of the International Star Class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grondin proved herself a formidable competitor in the world of sport keelboats in 2025 with her team Dark Energy. Grondin made history as the first female helm to win the J\/70 World Championship this past year, with the title coming down to the last moments of the final race. Grondin also finished second at the Melges 24 World Championship, overcoming a collision and two DNFs early in the regatta. This is her first Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year win, although she was named a nominee in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside her accomplishments in 2025 for which she was awarded the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Grondin has had prior success in the J\/70 fleet, finishing third at the World Championship in 2021 and 2023. She is a former International Melges 24 Class Chair and is one of the class\u2019s most accomplished female owner-drivers, consistently demonstrating competitive excellence and leadership both on and off the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards represent the very highest standard of excellence in our sport,\u201d remarked Charlie Enright, US Sailing CEO. “Having been fortunate enough to receive this honor myself, I know how meaningful it is\u2014not just as recognition of results, but as acknowledgment of the dedication, teamwork, and resilience required to succeed at the highest level of sailing. This year\u2019s winners truly exemplify what makes American sailing world-class.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Sailing announced the winners of its 2025 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":82960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"US Sailing Media","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[1050],"class_list":["post-82959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-rolex-yachtsman-of-the-year"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}