Australia’s Nathan Outteridge has been nominated as one of only five men in line to win the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award for 2009.

Earlier this year, Outteridge teamed up with Iain Jensen to commence a joint campaign to be a part of the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. The duo gelled instantly winning the Delta Lloyd Regatta, the first ever race that they competed in as a team.

In June the pair went on to win the 2009 49er World Championships in Riva del Garda, Italy, taking victory by a comfortable 15 points over Great Britain’s John Pink and Rick Peacock.

This was the second time that Outteridge had won gold at the world champs in as many years, taking out the 2008 49er title with teammate Ben Austin.

The 23 year old already has a crowded prize shelf with three Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship gold medals from several seasons ago.

One aspect of Outteridge’s sailing resume that is sure to impress those voting on the sailor of the year, is his versatility.

In the same world championship meeting in Riva del Garda, Outteridge was a member of Lauren Jeffries’ 29er crew that took the silver.

The two time 49er world champion has also won the Australian and US national championships in the International Moth class.

When Nathan was just seven years old, his parents recognized the undeniable potential in their son, and invested in a Sabot which he promptly skippered. By 1999, at age thirteen Nathan won the Sabot Championship in Yeppoon and also won the Flying Eleven nationals in Sydney a few days later. Nathan Wilmot is the only other sailor to achieve the double.

Then the boy from NSW’s Lake Macquarie started sailing the 470 class under the coaching of Victor Kovalenko. He found himself training alongside Nathan Wilmot, Malcolm Page and Olympic gold medalists Jenny Armstrong and Belinda Stowell.

“It was such a huge learning curve and a great experience for me,” Outteridge explained to the Australian Sailing Team website.

Feeling as though he was getting “too big” to race 470s, Outteridge turned his capable talents to the 49er class, and his renowned adaptability generated further success.

Then in 2004 the Beijing olympian's future in the sport was thrust into uncertainty. When driving to a sailing event in Melbourne, Outteridge was involved in a serious car accident in which he broke his back.

“Needless to say I had a long road ahead of me. I didn’t even have a crew for my 49er anymore, so that was where I had to start,” outlined a reminiscent Outteridge.

“There were many hours spent considering who would be the best crew to have, with many issues to deal with. Also many hours would have to be spent getting back up to speed to compete at the world level.”

With this in mind, it is understandable that Outteridge lists winning the 2008 & 2009 49er World Championships as his career highlights after such a challenging experience.

“After a lot of hard work both on and off the water, I gradually got back into the swing of things and soon became competitive again.”

The ISAF website explains that “in deciding the nominees, the achievements of sailors made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 are taken into consideration.”

Outteridge essentially has a one in five chance of securing the illustrious marble and silver trophy, designed to represent the globe with five spinnakers symbolising the competing continents.

There is also a priceless personalized Rolex timepiece attached to the award.

Other nominees in the men’s category are Pascal Bidégorry (FRA), Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Paul Goodison (GBR) and Torben Grael (BRA).

The sailors nominated for the women’s award are Sam Davies (GBR), Hilary Lister (GBR), Blanca Manchón (ESP) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA).

The announcements will be made at the Sailor of the Year presentation dinner on Tuesday 10^th November at the Busan Yacht Club in Korea.