NSW Maritime Medallists

NSW Maritime Medallist for 2019

Colin McQueen was the recipient of the 2019 NSW Maritime Medal. This award recognises the selfless contributions Colin has made in promoting safe boating, encouraging participation and looking after our marine environments.

Colin has been a devoted volunteer with the State Emergency Service, the SES, for over 40 years. He has dedicated his time to training SES search and rescue staff and volunteers to be on-water flood rescue boat operators. He has also spent this time assessing them to be masters of the eight different types of boats the SES have in their fleet.

As part of his volunteer work with SES, Colin undertakes search and rescue operations for missing persons and also supports the recovery of deceased persons on NSW waterways. Colin devotes his time to support key community maritime events such as the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic and Clean Up Australia Day as well as a range of events on Sydney Harbour.

In addition to delivering training for the SES, Colin leads mentoring programs and is also training SES staff to be trainers so they can teach the next generation of staff and volunteers to operate the SES fleet.

Image: 2019 NSW Maritime Medal recipient Colin McQueen.

 

NSW Maritime Medalists for 2017

Mike Jarvin – Community Medal

Mike is recognised in the NSW boating community as a selfless and voluntary advocate, strategist and advisor for over 25 years. His outcome focussed efforts have been far-reaching through his consistent level of extraordinary dedication across all aspects in maritime. This includes recreational, commercial and maritime property activities, all focussed on delivering positive outcomes for the maritime community.

For over 25 years, Mike has also made outstanding and sustained contributions to the boating community through his mentoring of maritime start-ups from their inception. Bringing many decades of experience from his successful maritime businesses, Mike has provided invaluable advice, support and networking to bring the industry together.

Image: (L-R) 2017 NSW Maritime Medal recipient Mike Jarvin (Community Medal), Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey.

Chris Mitchell – Safety Medal

Chris has directly driven outstanding advancements in universal inclusion and disabled accessibility in sailing on a global scale sustained for over 20 years. Chris has achieved this through specific vessel class and infrastructure designs, advocacy, mentoring and overall philanthropy.

There are now nearly 3000 of Chris’ boats in use in 32 countries globally with the designs allowing even severely disabled sailors to sail competitively against able-bodied counterparts. Chris also designed and built the first ventilated quad to sail solo using servo controls in 2000.

Image: (L-R) Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey, 2017 NSW Maritime Medal recipient Chris Mitchell (Safety Medal).

Recipients of NSW Maritime Medal