Sport / ‘It would be incredible’ – Adamson hopes to cap off remarkable year by lifting Sportsperson award
SAILOR Maggie Adamson hopes to cap off a “pretty awesome” 12 months by being named Shetland Sportsperson of the Year on Friday night.
Adamson and team-mate Cal Finlayson were crowned world champions at the offshore double handed championships in France last year in a remarkable milestone for Shetland sailing.
They followed that up by taking on their “toughest race yet” in April – sailing over 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean over the course of an “epic” 19 days, from France to the Caribbean.
And they rounded off a terrific twelve months by finishing second at Royal Ocean Racing Club’s competition in Cherbourg in early September.
That has all put Adamson in the running to walk away with the biggest award in Shetland sport on Friday night, when she, cyclist Grant Ferguson and footballer and hockey player Rhea Nicolson vie for the Sportsperson of the Year prize at the Shetland Sports Awards.
Adamson said she was “just delighted, and surprised” to be told she had made the final three for the coveted trophy.
“There’s so many great sportspeople from Shetland, especially in an Island Games year, so it’s really quite humbling to be nominated,” she told Shetland News.
“It’s nice just to be recognised, and it shows it’s not just the most popular sports that get nominated too.
“There’s so much time and effort that you put into it, so it’s nice.”
Adamson and Finlayson – who represent Solan Ocean Racing – created history as they crossed the line in first place in France in late September 2024, becoming champions of the world as they did so.
The win came too late for the 2024 Shetland Sports Awards, but Adamson has been recognised for her achievement a year on.
The year before their monumental success the pair finished third at the world championships, which Adamson said had given them a “little bit of confidence” heading to France last year.
She said previously that they had never been more prepared for a race before, and she expanded on that this week.
“There’s a lot of madness, famous people, TV cameras and lots of people there,” Adamson said.
“So you just have to put your head down and focus on your race.
“That was the main thing, to have a bit more of a plan instead of trying to go with the flow and see what happens.”
While she said they would “always have the mindset to go out and do your best and see where it takes you”, Adamson said they had been targeting a top three finish at the event.
“We knew the French teams were really, really strong, they’re fully funded and professional teams.
“But we had the podium as our main goal.
“Come the end of the race we wanted to just keep ourselves in the mix and take our chances.”
Asked when she realised when they were going to be world champions, she replied: “I don’t think until we crossed the line!”
“The first leg we had a pretty poor start,” she added.
“But we managed to catch up, so we thought if we grit our teeth and keep focused we can do this.”
A key turning point in the race came overnight, when Adamson and Finlayson realised that they had overtaken two boats in pitch black conditions – putting them in first place.
The pair only had “two half-hour peerie naps in the whole 27 hours” between them as they surged towards the finish line.
Adamson said the feeling of winning the world championships was “just unbelievable”.
“I just tried to take it all in,” she said.
“It’s something you’ve always dreamed of, so it was amazing.”
The pair were down in the Isle of Wight to try defend their title, but after cruising to victory in their qualifying race they came unstuck in the final in very un-Shetland conditions.
“We were feeling pretty good going into the final,” she said.
“Unfortunately there was very little wind. I’ve always said, ‘give us a gale and we’ll be happy!’
“We made a poor start and were playing catch up, and then we lost the wind and ended up stuck with the boats behind us.
“There was so little wind at one point all the boats had to anchor – we were actually going backwards.
“It was a shame, but it’s definitely something to focus on – how we sail when there’s less wind.”
Back to Friday’s awards, Adamson said she was proud to be flying the flag for sailing, and on the national and international stages too.
“For sailing to be nominated, I think that’s one of the main things.”
She said she hoped it could give encouragement to other young sailors.
“We all started in the same place, dinghy racing in Lerwick – that’s where it all built up from.
“We all have to start somewhere.”
Adamson added that winning Sportsperson of the Year “would just be incredible”.
“It would just cap off all the effort and time that people around me have put in to make it possible,” she said. “All the people that have helped you to sail, all the people that have taken you south for competitions.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Shetland Sports Awards 2025 will be held in the Clickimin Leisure Centre’s bowls hall on Friday 14 November.
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