SAIL magazine took home 11 awards at the annual Boating Writers International (BWI) writing contest, winning first place in five of the 16 categories for stories that cover the range of the sailing life, from racing, chartering, and cruising to safety and sustainability. The winners were announced today at the start of the Miami International Boat Show.
“I am just so proud of all of our writers and editors and so happy their hard work and terrific writing has been recognized by their peers,” said SAIL Editor-in-Chief Wendy Mitman Clarke, who won three categories. “I’m grateful for the contest sponsors and the hard work of the judges and organizers, and it’s always a great feeling when your work comes out on top.”
This year’s BWI Awards (presented now for 31 years) attracted 76 participants submitting 248 entries from stories, videos, and photography published in 2023. In addition to cash awards for first, second, and third places, 26 certificates of merit were presented. Each of the categories was judged by a panel of four active marine journalists in the final weeks of 2023. Cash award recipients also received a recognition plaque noting their “Excellence in creating compelling content about boating through entertaining, educational, and inspiring journalism.”
Clarke’s stories took gold in three categories: “Sailing With the Boy” for the Lifestyles category sponsored by Discover Boating; her monthly editorial column Setting Sail in the Columns category sponsored by KVH Industries; and her review of the Tartan 455 in the Boat Tests & Reviews category sponsored by Volvo Penta. She also took a merit award for Lifestyles with “One True Boat.”
Judge Ann Hoffner said, “ ‘Sailing with the Boy’ turns the tables on the summer cruise, and in a delightful fashion, shows how the presence of a boy changes the outcome for an adult who was bloody ready to go sailing alone for a good long while.”
Of the winning Tartan 455 review, Judge Rich Armstrong noted, “The author taps her deep subject knowledge and passion for sailing, adds a vivid walk-through of features along with a rousing sea story to create a superb product review that reads like a feature story.”
SAIL Managing Editor Lydia Mullan took gold in two categories. In Boating Adventures sponsored by Yamaha Marine Group, “Baptism by Fire,” her story of sailing in the Annapolis to Newport Race is, “a rollercoaster adventure that you’d rather read about than partake in, for which the credit goes to the gifted author,” said Chair Tristan Rutherford.
And, as editor of Multihull Power & Sail, a special publication twice a year from SAIL and Power & Motoryacht, Mullan also won the new Women in Boating category, sponsored by Yamaha Watercraft, for “Tri and Tri Again,” her story about multihull pioneer Dona Bertarelli and the Sails of Change team’s efforts toward a Jules Verne Trophy.
Judge Chris Dixon described the story as an “Excellent first-person account not only of a one-of-a-kind boat and her fascinating crew, but an experiential adventure aboard a very fast boat as well. Top notch reporting.”
SAIL also won the Photography category, sponsored by ePropulsion, for Tor Johnson’s dreamy, evocative cover of the May 2023 issue. Judge Tim Murphy observed, “Speed and stasis, power and peace: this image captures the beautiful aloneness of being on passage at twilight. The speed of the wake and the stillness of the person standing at the mast, separated by all the power in that genoa drawing—I want to be in that moment.”
SAIL writer/photographer Robert Beringer also won a certificate of merit for his photo “Dawn on the Santa Maria” in his story about sailing the replica ship down the Florida coast.
SAIL Charter Editor Zuzana Prochazka won second place in the Columns category for her monthly column called Charter Life.
SAIL Technical Editor Adam Cove won second place in the Environmental Awareness and Education category, sponsored by Torqueedo, for his excellent, in-depth piece on sustainable boatbuilding, “Facing Future.” And SAIL Contributing Editor Christopher Birch won third place in the Seamanship, Rescue & Safety category for his piece on life vest electronics, “What’s In Your Life Vest?”
Tor Johnson also won a merit award in the Boating Travel and Destinations category, sponsored by Dometic, for his story about sailing to the Cape Verde islands, “Beauty in the Rough.”
BWI is a non-profit professional organization consisting of writers, editors, broadcasters, publishers, photographers, public relations specialists and others in the communications profession associated with the boating industry. Members include active marine journalists across the U.S., Canada and around the world. For more information, visit www.bwi.org.
