Californians Yachtspeople of the Year
US Sailing announced yesterday that Olympic bronze medalist Caleb Paine of San Diego and IKA Formula Kite World Champion Daniela Moroz of Lafayette (in the East Bay) have been named 2016 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year.
Caleb Paine, 25, prevailed in an epic medal race to earn bronze in the Finn class at the Rio Games last summer. Competing in his first Olympics, Paine led the medal race at every mark. "It was a tough battle for me, and I feel fortunate to come up with a medal in the end," said Paine.
In early March, the Rio 2016 Selection Series in the Finn class concluded at the Finn European Championship in Barcelona. Paine came from behind to win his first Olympic Sailing Team berth over 2008 silver medalist Zach Railey, who came out of retirement in late 2015. "Without Zach, I don’t think I would have medaled at the Games because I gained so much from the pressure and intensity of the Olympic Trials," said Paine. "In some ways the Olympic Trials were far more difficult than what I had to do at the Olympics."
A Sailing World Cup Series champion, Paine has been the top-ranked American Finn sailor since 2012. He began his Finn career in the period preceding the London 2012 Olympic Games as Zach Railey’s training partner. As a kid in San Diego, Paine devoted himself to mastering the Sabot pram. He bypassed collegiate sailing in order to focus on the Olympics.
As young as Paine is, he’ll share the stage with a foiling kiteboarder 10 years his junior. At the age of 15, Daniela Moroz, a high school sophomore, won the IKA Formula Kite World Championship in September in Weifang-Binhai, China. She won 8 of 12 races at the event, including all four races on the final day. "It didn’t feel real at first," said Moroz. "I couldn’t believe it actually happened. It’s always been something I dreamed of doing ever since I started kiting. I’ve been training and racing with Erika Heineken since the beginning, and she is a role model and inspiration to me. To be able to do what she did means a lot."
Topping the women’s final standings in the 2016 Hydrofoil Pro Tour, Moroz placed first in the women’s fleet at the Final Round in Rockingham, Western Australia, and first at Round Three in Pointe d’Esny, Mauritius. "The Hydrofoil Pro Tour … is one of the most amazing experiences of my life," she said. "Traveling around the world and being able to compete is a dream. The racing is a big part of it, but it’s not everything. I’ve made some great friends along the way."
Moroz learned to kiteboard at the age of 11 while taking lessons at Sherman Island in the Delta. She first raced out of Crissy Field in St. Francis YC’s Thursday Night Races. Soon after, she learned how to foil and raced the entire 2014 season on a Sword. "Both of my parents were windsurfers, so they introduced me at an early age." Indeed, her first windsurfing race was in 2000. "It was the San Francisco Classic, a long-distance race that takes you on an epic tour around the Bay. That year about 40 windsurfers started but only 8 finished. The funny thing is that I was not even born yet — my mom finished the Classic while she was pregnant with me.
"I chose kiting because this sport had really taken off. Soon after I began racing, the progression from raceboards to hydrofoil had started and I followed that progression."
This is the second time that a kiter has been named US Sailing Rolex Yachtsperson of the Year. Johnny Heineken (Erika’s brother) was 2012’s Yachtsman of the Year.
A panel of sailing journalists discussed the merits of the eight men and six women nominated and cast votes to determine the ultimate winners. The awards (and watches) will be presented at New York Yacht Club on March 2.
Our congratulations to Caleb Paine and Daniela Moroz!