Current athletes and coaches from the Australian Sailing Team received a unique honour this week, when they were the latest group of eligible sailors to receive their Barranjoey Pin. The presentation happened at the National Training Centre at Middle Harbour Yacht Club, where six distinguished athletes were presented with their uniquely numbered Pins to recognise their sailing achievements.

Initiated earlier in 2018, the Barranjoey Pin has been designed to acknowledge the legacy and history of Olympic and Paralympic class sailing in Australia and to recognise the achievements of those who have competed and continue to compete at the highest level for Australia in sailing. Previous recipients include prominent athletes such as Olympic gold medallist John Cuneo, AST sailor Joel Turner, Australian Sailing Hall of Fame inductee and four-time Olympian Jock Sturrock MBE, AST sailor David Gilmour and Dick Sargeant, one of the sailors aboard the original Barranjoey which helped win Australia's first sailing gold medal at Tokyo 1964.

The event was hosted by Australian Sailing President Matt Allen, with the pins being presented by the AST Performance Director Iain Murray. Murray was one of the first to receive his Barranjoey Pin earlier in the year, having qualified when he represented Australia in Beijing 2008 Olympics in the Star class.

The latest Pin recipients included:

Barranjoey Pin #123 - Michael Blackburn. 4th place in the inaugural appearance of the Lasers at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and 9th place at the 2004 Athens Games. Current AST Laser class coach.

Barranjoey Pin #197 - Matt Wearn. An AST member since 2014, 3rd place at the 2017 Laser World Championships and a silver medallist at the 2018 World Championships in the Laser class. 

Barranjoey Pin #198 - Jake Lilley. First became a member of the AST in 2015, finished 13th at the 2014 World Championships in the Finn class and competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, placing 8th overall.

Barranjoey Pin #202 - Oliver Tweddell.  Qualified as an AST member in 2016, and qualified for the 2011 and 2014 World Championships where he finished 30th and 23rd respectively.

Barranjoey Pin #207 - Euan McNicol. Multiple World Championship qualifier between 1999 and 2016 across 49er, 29er and Nacra 17 classes. Current coach of the 49er class for the AST.

Barranjoey Pin #208 - Haylee Outteridge. The most recent Barranjoey Pin qualifier after finishing second at the 2018 World Championships in the Nacra 17 class, alongside Brother and fellow pin recipient Nathan.

The athletes expressed their delight at being recognised, feeling proud of past achievements and ready for the new challenges with a busy Summer season ahead.

2016 Rio Olympic Games athlete, Jake Lilley, was delighted to receive his pin. “For me it’s huge privilege to join the list of fantastic Australian sailors. It is a very proud moment, and I am thankful to the community and the sport for such an opportunity,” Lilley said.

Other guests in attendance included Victor Kovalenko OAM, the 470s Lead Coach, the latest Australian Sailing Team Patron, John Bacon, and a number of Australian Sailing partners including representatives from major partners Zhik, Network Steadfast and Nautilus Marine and official suppliers B&G Navico, Maui Jim, Navionics, LIROS ropes and DeckHardware.

With a big summer of local events kicking off next month including Sail Sydney and Sail Melbourne leading in to a northern summer of 2020 Olympic Games campaigning, there is lot to look forward to for members of the Performance Team.

Lilley also expressed those feelings when he said: “The hope of every young Australian sailor is one day to represent their country. Moving forward we are really excited about Tokyo 2020 and we are working hard every day to try and better our results from Rio and bring home a plethora of medals.”