Hall of Fame

Shirley Robertson OBE

Shirley Robertson is by far the largest name in the Europe's history, but also one of the most prominent names in the sport. Competing in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics in the Europe, Shirley narrowly missed out on a medal in Savannah in 1996, before dominating the Europe class at Sydney in 2000 to take Gold. Shirley went then went on to take gold in the Yngling at Athens 2004, and made history becoming the first female helm in the Extreme Sailing Series. She is now most commonly found commentating at many high profile sailing events, including the 2021 Americas Cup coverage.

Laura Baldwin

After a successful campaign, Laura was selected to represent Great Britain in the Europe at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Following her success in the Europe in the UK, Laura moved to Australia, where she won the Australian National Titles in the 470 and Laser Radial classes in 2008 and 2009 respectively. She also finished third at the 2008 Women's Match Racing World Championships! Her focus then became coaching, supporting the Australian and then Hungarian Laser Radial representatives at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. It was great to see Laura make a return to the class when she competed in the 2019 UK Europe National Championships.

Steve Cockerill

After borrowing a friends boat to sail at the 1987 Nationals, Steve fell in love with the Europe, buying his own Europe and finishing 2nd at the National Championships the following year! From there, Steve committed to a serious Europe campaign, spending years racing against the best Europe sailors in both the UK and the world! After taking a job in the Royal Navy, Steve began Olympic campaigning in the 470 and then the Laser. Steve has since dominated the UK sailing scene, winning events in the Laser Radial, RS Aero, RS400 and 2000 just to name a few, whilst also building his Rooster brand into one of the largest sailing equipment brands in the UK! In 2020, Steve and his wife Sarah bought two Europes to make their return to the class!

Chris Gill

Chris Gill first made a name for himself in the Europe class back in the early 2000s, finishing as first youth at the Europe National Championships in 2000 and 2001. After finishing 2nd in 2002, he won the 2003 Europe UK National Championships at Warsash SC, his first of 10 National Championship titles that he has won in the class! His impressive number of wins makes him the most successful sailor in the UK Europe class, however with him continuing to race the Europe, we are sure that his tally of national titles will continue to rise! Chris represented the Europe class at the Endeavour Trophy in both 2007 and 2008, both times finishing in the top 10 in a fleet of national champions from a wide range of classes.

Penny Clark

Having won the Junior UK National Championship title in 1992, Penny quickly progressed through the UK Europe fleet, winning the 1996 National Championships at Eastbourne. After years spent mastering the Europe, Penny's focus turned to the Laser Radial, representing Great Britain in the Laser Radial at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing! She then moved into the 470 class, where despite being ranked world number one, she narrowly missed out on selection to the London 2012 Olympics. She then sailed the 49erFX in the British Sailing Team, before moving into a coaching role. She is now head coach of the British Sailing Team's Laser Radial programme, supporting Alison Young at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. Penny has also seen success in a wide range of other classes, most recently in the 505.

Saskia Clark

Having won the UK Europe Junior National Championship title at age 17, Saskia Clark has since gone on to become one of Great Britain's most successful female sailors. After a successful campaign in the 470 class, Saskia narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Her partnership with Hannah Mills ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games saw the pair take the 2012 470 World Championship title, before earning a Silver medal at London 2012. The duo continued their quest for gold, dominating the 470 class over the next four years in a campaign which culminated in a Gold Medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Since then, Saskia was awarded an MBE for her services to sailing, and has commentated on major sailing events such as SailGP.