Tom Slingsby has been named the 2010 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, becoming the first Australian to win the prestigious award which was announced at a gala ceremony in Athens, Greece.

In winning the 2010 award Slingsby was rewarded for his stellar year in which he won two World Championships in two weeks and returned to the top of the world rankings in the Laser class.

Though not everything went the 26-year-olds way with a violent electrical storm in Sydney on Monday evening cancelling his flight to Athens and leaving him stranded half a world away from the ceremony.

The three-time Laser World Champion headed across the country to join his fellow Australian Sailing Team members at a camp in Perth with the team, including Slingsby’s coach, Olympic bronze medallist Michael Blackburn, alongside him for the announcement in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“Winning this award is a great honour, the sailing greats have been nominated for and won this award before, I don’t feel like I’m up there with those guys and was thrilled just to be nominated in the first place,” said Slingsby.

“I remember about 10 years ago sitting on the rocks on Sydney Harbour watching two greats, Ben Ainslie and Robert Sheidt, two former winners of this award go to battle at the Sydney Olympic Games and I remember that was the moment I realised that this was really what I wanted to do and it’s a great honour to have my name said in the same breath as people like that, people I’ve looked up to, ” he said.

In being named ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Slingsby has capped off a remarkable comeback from the depths of his unsuccessful 2008 Beijing Olympic Games campaign and is now progressing well towards his next goal - a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Slingsby headed into the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as favourite for the gold medal but struggled in the light conditions finishing the regatta 22nd.

The Gosford based sailor had a tough start to his 2012 London Olympic Games campaign finishing 17th at the 2009 Laser World Championship before getting his sailing career back on track.

Since September 2009 Slingsby has been unstoppable, winning six of the seven Laser regattas he has competed in, including the 2010 Laser World Championship and four ISAF Sailing World Cup rounds, including back-to-back victories at the venue for the 2012 London Olympic Games in Weymouth, England.

Slingsby has also had great success in other sailing classes, finishing second at the 2010 Farr40 World Championship in the Dominican Republic aboard Transfusion and then winning the 2010 Etchells World Championship alongside sailing legend John Bertrand and Andrew Palfrey.

Yachting Australia