2007 Southam Awards for Excellence in Sailing Communications Winners Announced

2007 Southam Awards for Excellence in Sailing Communications Winners Announced

MIAMI, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Winners of the annual 2007 John Southam Awards for Excellence in Media Communications were announced by U.S. trade association Sail America and Chief Judge Sally Helme at the Miami International Boat Show and Strictly Sail media breakfast today.

The awards were named in honor of John Southam, former publisher of Cruising World and Sailing World magazines who played a significant role in the growth of sailing. They are now in their 15th year, and this year the number of media impressions totaled 77,374,337.

Of the 228 entries, a broad mix of print, broadcast, books and online media, the judging panel of four industry veterans awarded seven cash prizes totaling $11,000, plus two honorable mentions.

The 2007 Southam winner of the $5000 grand prize is The Learning Channel's TV Series, "Little People, Big World" episode #36, conceived and produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions in conjunction with The Moorings. This feature showed the Roloff family enjoying a sailing vacation in the Bahamas aboard a Moorings catamaran.

Other category winners included Jerry Mashaw and Anne MacClintock for their book, "Seasoned by Salt," published by Sheridan House; in the Newspapers Under 100,000 (circulation) category, "Smooth Sailing," took the win, published in the Atlantic City Press (Atlantic City, NJ) in June 2007, written by Courtney McCann. The Newspapers Over 100,000 (circulation) winner is Nyier Abdou, for her article, "Sailors Tap Reservoir of Delight," published in the Star Ledger, Newark NJ.

The Web category winner is the Courageous Sailing Center in Boston, MA - www.courageoussailing.org. The Magazine category was won by Roger Toll for his article, "Tied Up in Knots" published in the December 2007 edition of Delta Airline's SKY Magazine.

Two honorable mentions were also awarded including Kathy Moorhouse of Baker Media Group for her feature article, "Like Ducks to Water," which appeared in Akron Life and Leisure Magazine in August 2007, and Versus Network, its producers and commentators including Tucker Thompson, for their outstanding coverage of the 32nd America's Cup.

"In general, this year's Southam entries were of very good quality and provided lots of diverse takes on sailing," summarized Helme. "Just like the sport and lifestyle of sailing, the 2007 entries showed that sailing has something to offer just about everyone!"

Contact: Wanda Kenton Smith
Kenton Smith Advertising & PR
407/856-6680
wanda@kentonsmithadv.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Sail America

CONTACT: Wanda Kenton Smith, Kenton Smith Advertising & PR,
+1-407-856-6680, wanda@kentonsmithadv.com

Web site:

http://www.courageoussailing.org/

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