BRIAN BLACK MEMORIAL AWARD SPONSORED BY B&G

Brian Black was as passionate about the marine environment as he was eloquent in his writing and filmmaking about the numerous crises facing fragile Arctic ecosystems. He was a television journalist as well as a lifelong sailor and contributor to Yachting Monthly. His wife Lesley was a sailor and author in her own right, becoming Northern Ireland’s first female yacht club commodore. As a memorial to Brian and Lesley Black, the Black family, in conjunction with Yachting Monthly, established an award to celebrate sailing adventures which shed a fresh light on marine environmental issues through inspiring journalism. The award aims to find the very best writing that gives voice to the marine environment and brings a new perspective to readers. The award is sponsored by marine electronics company B&G, which recognises sustainability as one of the pillars of its multi-year strategy. B&G’S sustainability agenda includes: removing all single-use plastics from its packaging and using only recyclable materials from 2021; reducing company air travel by 90%; reducing paper used in its offices by 95%; and decreasing energy consumption for IT equipment from 305,000kwh to 250,000kwh. It is also working with sister company C-map to open up their Biobase platform, which processes, maps and stores spatial aquatic data, free of charge to government bodies and research institutes, to support aquatic conservation. Visit www.bandg.com for further details. For more details on the Brian Black Memorial Award 2022 visit: www.yachtingmonthly.com/bbma2022