New York YC honors Stephanie Roble as top sailor

NEW YORK—Stephanie Roble, the 49er FX sailor from East Troy, Wisconsin, is this year’s winner of the Mosbacher Trophy, which is awarded to New York Yacht Club’s “Sailor of the Year” winner. Roble was recognized for her achievements in the women’s skiff class despite the Covid-19 pandemic and cancelation of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Roble is the first-ever woman to win the highly coveted award, according to a statement issued by US Sailing.

The 2020 Annual Awards ceremony was held virtually due to social distancing restrictions in New York City.

The Mosbacher Trophy, which was created in honor of former New York YC Commodore and two-time America’s Cup champion Emil “Bus” Mosbacher, is considered the most coveted of the club’s annual trophies. Each year’s recipient usually accepts the award at a ceremony held at the Model Room on 44th Street in New York City.

“This is an incredible honor,” Roble, who joined New York YC in 2015, said. “It’s been quite the year, and we’re really excited about the results that we’ve had. It’s an absolute honor to represent the New York Yacht Club around the world. To be the first female to win this award is extra special. This award is a reflection of my team’s commitment and dedication to our goal of bringing home a Gold medal for Team USA. I would like to thank my teammate Maggie Shea and coach Giulia Conti for all of their hard work on and off the water.

“It’s exciting to think about the Olympics, about our dream of winning a medal, but we have to focus on how we can get better every day and hope that will be good enough for a medal come August,” Roble continued.

Roble, and her teammate Shea, won the 2020 49erFX World Championship in Geelong, Australia, at the start of the year.

“It was first American medal in a 49erFX world championship,” according to a US Sailing statement. “That result also secured, by the narrowest of margins, Roble and Shea’s selection as the American representative in the class for the Tokyo Games.”

The Robbie-Shea duo also fared well at the 2020 Worlds. They also finished second at Kiel Week in Germany.

Other sailors to win the award were: one-design skippers Jim Richardson, Stephen Benjamin and Peter Duncan; three-time Olympic 470 skipper Stuart McNay; Paralympic skipper Paul Callahan; and, brothers David Askew and Peter Askew.

“I am extremely proud to award the 2020 Mosbacher Trophy to Stephanie Roble,” says William P. Ketcham, Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. “Since graduating from Old Dominion University nearly a decade ago, Stephanie has thrown herself into elite sailing, succeeding in keelboats, match racing and now the 49erFX Olympic class. Stephanie and Maggie made the most of their limited opportunities to compete in 2020, and we look forward to following them on the road to an Olympic medal this summer. Stephanie is the youngest person and the first woman to win the Mosbacher.”