Awards
awards
Our Awards & members
Association
Man Overboard highly commended
We are fortunate to work in an industry where there are many outstanding examples of innovation, progress and development.
This award is open to all member marinas, boatyards and associate members recognises any special project, approach or innovation that is worthy of commendation. It can relate to any aspect of our industry, whether people, the environment, technical innovations, a new product, or community engagements.
Awards and recognition:
Marinas 22 Innovation showcase Winner:
The Marinas22 Innovation Showcase introduced five new products which provided new solutions to existing problems, each delivered in a punchy seven minute presentation where product developers outlined the unique benefits of their creation.
Four of the five products were environmental initiatives.
The Man Overboard Marina Alarm System was created to mitigate the risk of drownings due the difficulty of egress from the water on to a pontoon without a ladder. This simple system enables the casualty to simply pull a cord under the pontoon deck which sounds an audible alarm to raise attention, as well as notifying marina management of the location of the person in distress.
Following the presentations, a live poll was taken over 150 delegates in attendance, with the Man Overboard Marina Alarm System being announced as the winner in a tightly contested result. In receiving his award, product creator Paul Williams explained the genesis of his idea, “The Man Overboard System was conceived after a near drowning incident in a marina where my boat is moored. A woman had fallen into the marina late at night, by the time her cries for help were heard she was suffering serious hypothermia as well as other injuries. I went home that night and came up with a solution that has consumed my life ever since.”
Paul has since saved a second life when an elderly man drove his mobility scooter off the edge of the marina at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron earlier this year. Club General Manager, Matt Solly explained, “Thankfully we had installed the Man Overboard System in 2020. As soon as the alarm sounded, we had people dispatched to the location, but by the time my staff arrived, people on surrounding boats had been alerted and the gentleman had been rescued”.
Les Binkin of Shellharbour Marina commented, “As the last session of the day it was a great way to keep everyone interested and inspired, congratulations to the organisers for delivering a session that supports new innovative products and well done to Paul Williams on coming up with such a useful, yet simple solution to a risk faced by all marinas.”
Awards and recognition:
Marina of The Year Awards:
In 2023 Man Overboard Marina Alarm Systems was extremely proud to receive a Highly Commended award during the prestigious Nautilus Marine Insurance Marina of the Year Awards