BURLING AND TUKE NOMINATED FOR WORLD SAILORS OF THE YEAR AGAIN

The pair are the current World Sailors of the year after winning the most prestigious international award of recognition in the sport of sailing in 2015. Since the awards inception in 1994, the trophy has proudly accumulated the names of those who have demonstrated unparalleled endurance, performance and accomplishment in sailing.

Beginning with Sir Peter Blake and Sir Robin Knox Johnston, the inaugural winners, the trophy reads like the definitive who's who in sailing. There can only be one male and one female winner so who will join the list of sailing royalty in 2016?

The names vying for the coveted and prestigious 2016 Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards are:

Male

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL)

Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO)

Santiago Lange (ARG)

Giles Scott (GBR)

Damien Seguin (FRA)

Female

Marit Bouwmeester (NED)

Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG)

Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA)

Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR)

Charline Picon (FRA)

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are the undisputed kings of the 49er, raising the bar to unrivalled realms. Rightly labelled sailing's hottest properties, Burling and Tuke dominated the 49er fleet at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, winning with two races to spare but their dominance of the Men's Skiff began long before the first starting gun in Rio de Janeiro.

Over the Rio 2016 quadrennial the pair personified perfection, winning four consecutive world championship titles and every major event along the way. The only dent in a near perfect repertoire was bronze at the South American Championships immediately before Rio 2016 but they did not let that distract as they clinched Olympic gold with a cool confidence.

As if their Olympic campaign was not enough to occupy the New Zealanders, they have combined sailing the 49er with senior roles at Emirates Team New Zealand in the America's Cup World Series, and an important part of the team's overall success.

The announcement of the 2016 female and male Rolex World Sailors of the Year will be made on Tuesday 8 November in Barcelona, Spain, the host city of the World Sailing's 2016 Annual Conference.

The male and female winners will be decided by World Sailing Member National Authorities, attendees on the night as well as, for the first time, the public. Public voting will commence at 12:00 UTC on Friday 4 November for a period of 72 hours.