The awards ceremony took place at the Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona in Spain.

Since the awards' inception in 1994, the prizes have celebrated the achievements of sailors, both individually and as a team, who have "demonstrated unparalleled endurance, performance and accomplishment in sailing".

At the beginning of the ceremony His Majesty King Constantine of Greece, World Sailing's President of Honour, claimed that the awards were "in recognition of an achievement that has been many years in the making".

"Every sailor on the nominee list has the ability to inspire the next generation and strengthen the legacy that our sport and every sport needs," he said.

Lange won the men's prize after an emotional Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016 with Cecilia Carranza Saroli in the Nacra 17 event.

At 54-years-old, Argentina's six-time Olympian and double bronze medal winner was the oldest sailor competing.

His success was remarkable as just one year prior to the Games he was diagnosed with cancer and was forced to have a lung removed.

"This is a very emotional moment in a very long sailing career," Lange said.

"It is a win for 'us' because I could not have done it without Cecilia.

"I want to thank all the other nominees, they are athletes I really admire.

"Only the very best win gold medals at the Games, and I have a lot of respect for all the other nominees."

As reward for his achievement, Lange was the recipient of a specially engraved Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master 40 watch and a marble and silver trophy depicting the globe, crowned with five silver spinnakers representing the continents.

Great Britain's Mills and Clark took the women's prize as a duo.

Spurred on by missing out on London 2012 gold in the 470 class, the pairing entered the Rio Games in determined fashion and with perfect preparation after winning gold at the 2015 Sailing World Cup Final, silver at the 2015 World Championships and two 2016 World Cup golds as well.

Once in Rio the British pair kept their focus on the task ahead as they went on to claim gold in convincing fashion.

"It is totally overwhelming to win this award, to see the names of previous winners, the legends of sailing in the room with us," said Clark.

Mills added: "We really weren't expecting this.

"The whole basis of our campaign was teamwork, our bond. 

"To cap our year with winning this award is absolutely incredible."

Mills and Clark both received engraved Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master 35s watches, and the same marble and silver trophy as Lange.