ilovesailing 2012 winner crowned
by Emma Slater, RYA 24 Sep 2012 11:50 BST
22 September 2012
Karen Langston from Beccles, Suffolk was named the overall winner of the ilovesailing competition © Karen Langsto
ilovesailing monthly winners from across the country made their way to the PSP Southampton Boat Show over the weekend (Saturday 22 September) to find out if they were to be crowned overall champion and claim the fantastic money can't buy prize package.
Up for grabs was an amazing selection of prizes that included a two week Neilson Teos Beach cub holiday for two people, a day of personal training with an RYA coach, 13 ilovesailing ducks signed by the 2012 Team GB Olympic and Paralympic sailors and an ilovesailing deck chair signed by the 2012 Team GB Olympic sailors, as well as a whole host of Skandia Team GBR and RYA goodies.
Eventually it was time to unveil the winner and much to her delighted and surprise, Karen Langston from Beccles, Suffolk was named the overall winner. Karen said after the announcement: "I won. I'm stunned. I'm very happy but can't quite believe it."
Karen explained how she got her winning shot entitled 'Sailing in the rain': "I was at the club watching the sailing and one of the youngsters was sailing along swinging her arms and then she pulled the pose in the photo and I said to her mother 'that's going in the photo competition'."
This year's judging panel was made up of respected marine photographer Paul Wyeth; Andrew Parry from Neilson, ilovesailing manager Graham Manchester and Heather Taylor from Sport England and Karen's picture was chosen from amongst 220 photo and video entries made to the ilovesailing Facebook photo and video competition.
"The aim of the ilovesailing Facebook competition is to celebrate people's favourite sailing photographs and videos that capture just how brilliant the sport is and we've had a fantastic response to the competition this year", explained ilovesailing manager, Graham Manchester. "It's been tricky every month to choose a winner and especially difficult to choose the overall winner but all the judges loved Karen's photo."
Find out more about ilovesailing and check out all the photos and videos at www.facebook.com/ryailovesailing