TOWARDS THE END OF LAST YEAR, AS USUAL, MAIL POURED INTO THE DIVER OFFICES. However, it wasn't just festive cards, subscription renewals and press releases that were keeping our postman fit, it was Diver Awards entries. By Christmas we were knee-deep in voting forms and, as the new year dawned, the counting began.
A pattern has now emerged in which a number of enterprising dive shops make sure to stock up heavily with copies of Diver when voting time comes around, and clearly work hard to persuade their customers to sign them up for glory.
Nothing wrong with that, and if their customers are willing to put their names to paper, they presumably approve of the stores in question. However, we think it's a pity that certain shops have to instruct their customers on how to vote in every single category. Come on, divers, you've all got your own opinions, as we well know - insist on speaking up for yourselves next time!
Of course, these entries make up only a proportion of the voting forms that come in from around the UK and beyond. The results as ever reflect shifting trends in the marketplace - this is how the Diver Awards 2000 came out:

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR It's good to see a manufacturer that has taken stick from Diver in the past (when differently represented) coming up trumps in this category, and SEACSUB deserves full credit for its innovative PRO 2000 BC. Praised not only by us but by the rest of the world's diving press, this is a high-quality product with a clever design which allows the diver to alter the trim between what is ideal under water and what is more suitable for use while floating at the surface. The strongly made BC has two straps and buckles inside each outer pocket. When fastened, these ensure that any air injected using the direct feed is kept out of the front part of the BC and stays at the back, as with a wing. Seacsub's new UK importer, Alpha Distribution, seems to have found a winning formula by concentrating on quality rather than budget prices. John Camm, who runs the company, is a Seacsub devotee and always dives using its gear. Runners-up in the Innovations category were a computer and a combined BC and breathing apparatus. The second-placed Suunto Stinger covers everything last year's runner-up the Vyper does - air, nitrox, free-diving - but in an attractive watch-sized package. The Mares HUB is a valid attempt to rid divers of clutter, ideal for warmwater divers who want to keep the rigging of their kit as simple and convenient as possible - and it works!

DIVE CENTRE OF THE YEAR In third place came last year's poll-topper, Deep Blue Dive Centre of Tynemouth, which still clearly enjoys great local support as both all-round centre and retailer (see right). Runner-up again was the ever-active Stoney Cove in Leicestershire, which had another big year as further development work was carried out and the Stanegarth tugboat was sunk to provide a new attraction. But the victor was a company which runs four PADI five-star dive centres in Egypt (two at Hurghada, Sharm el Sheikh and Nuweiba), and has been the bridesmaid rather than the bride for the past three years in this voting category. Word has clearly been getting around, however, and 2000 turned out to be EMPEROR DIVERS' year, with a popular surge of support making it the toast of Red Sea diving. Emperor hosts divers from all over Europe and has a philosophy of providing close personal attention to its customers. It was founded in 1992 by Terry and Theresa Simpson (right), who had formerly run centres in the UK, Caribbean and USA.

BRAND OF YEAR The manufacturers of the three winning innovations are again recognised by Diver readers in this category - but in reverse order. Top place for the third year running goes to Italian stylist MARES which, as part of international conglomerate HTM, has taken full advantage of the hefty resources made available to it for research and development. The result has been an outflowing of innovative and high-quality products for the past five years, from regulators and fins to the acclaimed HUB. Its importer is the energetic Blandford Sub-Aqua, based in Watford. "I'm very pleased Mares has won again," said Managing Director Mark Jenkins. "It was a big year for us with the HUB and the Ti Planet regulator. This just goes to show what good-quality readers Diver has!" It was another good year for Finland's Suunto, which came in second. Its current range of diving computers - the multi-function Vyper, watch-like Stinger and the air/nitrox integrated Cobra swept all before them in 2000. And another Italian manufacturer, Seacsub, finished a strong third, having reinvented itself for the British market with premium products such as the Pro 2000 BC, and a new strategy which seems to be paying off!

TRAVEL OPERATOR OF THE YEAR The fact that Emperor Divers is represented in the UK by the company that has won the Travel Operator title three times running clearly hasn't done it any harm. And the big news is that REGAL HOLIDAYS has scored top marks again - for a record fourth year, it is the readers' choice. 2000 was a special year for the company in which, after 11 years as an independent, it acquired new owners in the shape of Holidaybreak and became part of its Adventure Holidays division in a £3.2m deal: "Holidaybreak liked what it saw, and the fact that we had the Diver Awards I think provided confirmation from the consumer," was the comment of Managing Director Andy Telford at the time. Andy is still at the helm and holidays are still sold from Regal's Cambridgeshire office by its staff of 10, some of whom are pictured below, with Andy on the left. "Everyone is really pleased that so many divers voted for us again," said Marketing Manager Mary Munley (third from left). "The team understands what divers want from a good holiday and work hard to deliver it. "Emperor Divers are also a very important part of the service we provide in the Red Sea, so it's great that their efforts have been recognised too. Teamwork all round obviously keeps the diving customer happy." The top three travel operators were in fact unchanged from 1999, though Goldenjoy Diving did manage to close the gap on Regal Holidays in taking second place, followed by Hayes & Jarvis Diving. Like Regal, Goldenjoy saw a change of ownership in 2000, with a takeover by Libra, and clearly retains a big following, especially among Red Sea divers. Hayes & Jarvis is a long-established operator that has been selling dive holidays for six years and now offers some 40 worldwide destinations.

RETAILER OF THE YEAR The boys are back, and they're still pulling in votes by the crate-load. Customers of DEEP BLUE DIVE CENTRE of Tynemouth have seen their local store take top position for the second year running. The centre was started four years ago by three PADI instructors (Lewis Rana, Scott Bisset and John-Paul Gardner, below) and features a well-stocked shop as well as a school, with equipment servicing and hire, air and nitrox fills, a diving club and its own boat. Deep Blue (not to be confused with Deep Blue Diving of Congleton) is now adding a second storey to take classrooms and effectively double its working space. The centre has also won the North-east Retailer of the Year Award for three years running. The secret of its success? "Sheer hard work," says co-owner Stuart Bisset, with only a hint of weariness. "We're dedicated to giving customers what they want and working all the hours that takes, seven days a week. "We also believe in listening to our customers. The only trouble is that we work so hard we're getting less time to go diving ourselves!" Runners-up in this category were two stores that have not previously featured in the Diver Awards - Go Dive, representing the divers of Derby and its environs, and Above & Below of Hull. Both shops had clearly mobilised a loyal following to secure their places in the Diver roll of honour.

PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR This category threw up an interesting winner. Not strictly speaking a recreational diving book, it is nonetheless a publication that captures all the excitement and drama of wreck-hunting. THE SALVAGE OF THE CENTURY BY RIC WHARTON is published by Best Publishing in the USA and distributed in the UK by AquaPress and Hinchcliffe. It is an illustrated account of the record- breaking recovery in 1981 of £44 million worth of gold bullion from the wartime wreck of HMS Edinburgh - from 244m off the USSR. And in the light of the current heated debate over the future of diving on military wrecks in UK waters, Wharton spares no-one's feelings when he discusses the problems he encountered in the process. He cites as "despicable", by way of example, the "petty and dishonest" behaviour of the British Government, Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise and the entire Civil Service! All rip-roaring stuff, and readers can make up their own minds about the rights and wrongs of this indisputably exciting episode. Wharton has been diving for more than 40 years, once managed Comex's North Sea operations and later formed 2W, one of the world's biggest salvage companies. "I'm pleased to have won this award," says Wharton. "The book has had a tremendous reaction and people tell me they can't put it down once they start reading!" The runner-up prizes were both for new editions of popular existing books - Martyn Farr's cave-diving classic The Darkness Beckons, published by Baton Wicks and Marine Animals of the South-west by our own UK marine life expert Paul Naylor, published by Sound Diving.

THE WOODEN WEIGHTBELT This award always produces a few laughs, though perhaps it's less amusing for the unlucky winner. Designed to recognise lapses in service, quality and taste throughout the year, nominations got a bit personal this time round, including several hapless dive club members and allegedly bad buddies whose blushes we will spare here - it's a bit tough to nominate someone for getting a lot of colds. Even more unkind (and downright inexplicable) was a nomination for turtles! Various products, shops, manufacturers and training agencies were cited by disgruntled readers but a certain amount of venom was reserved for various inland dive centres. Stoney Cove had the dubious distinction of being runner-up dive centre of the year while also coming third in the Wooden Weightbelt poll, but then we are aware that some of its thousands of customers resent paying for its Diverlog scheme. Probably relieved to win second rather than first place was the BSAC, recovering from the troubles that saw it win the 1999 booby prize, but not yet out of the woods with all our readers. But that unwanted weightbelt for the year 2000 is awarded to DOSTHILL, a typical comment being: "You only have to look at the toilets - 'nuff said." We feel bound to point out that last year our own reporter found that Dosthill's chemical loos, though small, were "spotlessly clean" (Taking the Waters, October 2000). Perhaps they were prepared in his honour! But the message from a number of fastidious readers seems to be that, if you are heading for this well-known Midlands quarry site, it's wise to have been before you go.

READER DRAW The first name plucked at random from among the voting slips was that of Steven Ellis. He, lucky man, will be flying with his wife Julia to Layang Layang in Malaysia for a free diving holiday, courtesy of travel operator Pearls of the Ocean, a division of Jebsens Travel. This trip would normally cost £1,799 - not a bad reward for entering the Diver Awards!     Steven, an electrician from Witham in Essex, did some try-dives on holiday in Kenya last year with Julia. The couple enjoyed themselves so much they came straight back , bought loads of gear and joined Witham BSAC. They have dived in Tenerife and trained at Stoney Cove and Gildenburgh but have yet to become Sports Divers: "Our open-water dives keep getting blown out," said Steven.     Of the prize holiday, he said: "I'm completely shocked, I've never won anything before. I'm going to have to go and sit down for a bit!"     The Ellises will fly with Malaysia Airlines to Kota Kinabalu and by light aircraft to the atoll, which rises from the depths of the Borneo Banks, off the coast of Sabah. They will relax in luxury between abundant dives on nearby sites based around spectacular walls, in 30¡C water and 50m viz. Thirty other fortunate readers should stand by to receive runner-up prizes of Diving Daisy/Diving Willie all-cotton T-shirts, the ones with the cool slogans which normally cost £17. You are: Michael Anderson; Malcolm Carlo; S Chamberlain; Rebecca Cheatle; J Cherry; Richard Clarke; G E Downes; Graham Downing; Gillian Eglinton; E Faragher; Andrew Field; John Fisher; Mark Gibbons; LJ Guy; Sean Henson; I Higgins; John Horncastle; Ian Lloyd-Jones; Brian Monk; Richard Neely; Paul Nesbitt; AJ Orton; M Peachey; Paul Southern; Chris Sutcliffe; David J Thomas; Michael Tuck; Philip C Wall; Rick Willis; and Peter Wombwell. The Diver Awards were presented to the winners at a special dinner in their honour at London's Savoy Hotel.