Nick Offord, 40, from Falmouth, was crowned RYA Yachtmaster of the Year 2008 at the London Boat Show which ended its run on Sunday.

RYA President, The Princess Royal, a regular visitor to Falmouth and a yachtswoman, presented him with the on the RYA stand.

“It’s an absolute honour to be given this award especially by HRH. I’d been meaning to do my Yachtmaster exam for a while as it’s such a great qualification to have professionally but finally decided to get on with it last year! I’m really surprised - at no point did I ever think I would be given this title - I’m over the moon,” he said.

Nominated by his examiner and then selected as the winner by the RYA, Nick beat off stiff competition from candidates put forward by the RYA’s International team of over 420 Yachtmaster examiners.

The winner of the award must possess outstanding skills and knowledge as a skipper and will have demonstrated expertise and experience, standing out against almost 2500 Yachtmaster candidates who took their practical exams in 2008.

Nick, managing director of Rustler Yachts, has been sailing all his life, starting off in dinghies on a reservoir in Wales and then cruising with his father at first, and now with his friends on his own boats. He also enjoys a bit of racing and this year hopes to take part in the Three Peaks Yacht Race. Along with this, Nick does a lot of sailing in his job delivering boats around the world and his experience shone through when he took his exam.

Examiner Tony Ayres said: “Nick was a real pleasure to assess. His experience was very evident – he was always in command, enthusiastic, concise and clear in all his actions – he was a real treat to sail with.”

As well as receiving the coveted trophy donated by the Royal Institute of Navigation, Nick was also presented with a shock proof and water resistant S10 camcorder, courtesy of Panasonic.