Diving over dinner
There was much air-punching, whooping aplenty, and not a little chest-swelling, as the closely guarded secrets of who had won the 1998 Diver Awards were divulged to an expectant gathering at London's BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, otherwise known as BAFTA, hosted a glittering evening last December, but this was not another outing for the stars of the silver screen. Instead it was for those notables of the diving world who had captured the public imagination and had come to receive their just desserts.
Weatherman Michael Fish ably filled the space between the gala dinner and the presentation of the 1998 Diver Awards - by the way, he takes no responsibility for misforecasting that hurricane in 1987, blaming it all on a colleague, but he does recognise that that particular wind blew him no harm in the celebrity stakes!
The event is held for a charity close to diver's hearts and a raffle and improvised auction raised nearly 1700 on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society, with Blandford Sub-Aqua winning a bottle of champagne for the table that raised the most money.
But the focus of attention was of course on who would carry away from BAFTA the 12 trophies, including those handsome bronze Diver statuettes, and the excitement was palpable.
You, the readers, voted in your thousands to select the winners of the six coveted Diver Awards for Brand, Innovation, Dive Centre, Travel Operator, Retailer, and Publication of the Year.
Brand of the Year was won by the Italian manufacturer Mares, last year's runner-up. Mark Jenkins, of Blandford Sub-Aqua, which distributes Mares products in the UK, proved a popular winner and went up to accept the trophy on behalf of Mares to a roar of approval (seen left, with Diver Editor Nigel Eaton).
Presenting the award, Nigel said: "Mares must be admired not only for the range and quality of its products, but also for its outstanding overall image."
Second place was taken by a surprise winner, a brand that until now has had a relatively low profile in the British diving market. Ocean Reef, another Italian manufacturer with a full range of diving products, including the Neptune full-face mask, achieved a very enthusiastic vote ahead of last year's winner, third-placed Buddy, from Britain's own AP Valves.
There was however immediate consolation for AP Valves, and it came in a dramatic form. The Innovation of the Year category was hotly contested between a number of new products, but the company's Buddy Inspiration closed-circuit rebreather was voted a clear winner by readers and (left) walked up to accept the bronze trophy.
It has been a year of mixed fortunes for the company, with acclaim for the rebreather tempered by criticisms levelled in the wake of a number of fatalities. "It's always nice to win something, and in this case we were extremely chuffed because we could do nothing to affect the voting but sit back and await its outcome," said Martin later.
In presenting the trophy, Nigel Eaton commented that the Inspiration had been the result of much research, development, investment - and fortitude - over several years by a company that could never be accused of resting on its laurels.
The Suunto Spyder Advanced Computer Watch and the Apeks TX100 regulator, both notable pieces of kit, were voted into second and third places respectively.
Dive Centre of the Year was won by a company that stimulated thousands of divers to vote for it. The European Dive Centre in Turkey must have encouraged everyone who ever dived with it to put in a good word! We never imagined that so many British divers visited the eastern Mediterranean, but we have their names and addresses to prove it! Brothers Steve (second from left) and Alf Chappell (right) accepted the award.
The hotly contested second place went to the home favourite, last year's winner Stoney Cove, and third went to the very popular Emperor Divers in Hurghada.
Only one of last year's winners held on to its title for a second year running, and that was Regal Diving, once again the Travel Operator of the Year. In the past 11 years the company has achieved an enviable reputation for organising specialist holidays for divers to the Red Sea, and latterly worldwide.
"We are extremely happy to win this accolade for a second time," said Maggie Telford (left), accepting the prize. "At Regal we make a point of listening to what our clients want, and it seems to have paid off yet again."
However, it was by no means a walk-over and two other companies were close on Regal's heels. Second place was won by Hayes and Jarvis and third went to Oonasdivers. Several other well-known specialist diving travel operators were also in contention.
Bearing in mind its performance last year, it is fair to say that the winner of Retailer of the Year came out of nowhere. Bristol Scuba Centre had clearly been determined to make its mark this year in the Diver Awards. The many hundreds of votes cast in its favour achieved that aim, and Martin Cripps, its proprietor (left), was ecstatic at winning.
He thanked those diving equipment distributors that had helped him achieve the coveted trophy. He waved it triumphantly and his own disbelief at winning was evident in that he seemed unaware that the trophy was his to take home and keep!
Runners-up were, in second place, last year's winner, the ever-popular SDS Watersports of Sheffield and, in third place, Aquanorth of Newcastle.
CD-Roms featured strongly among the contestants in this year's Publication of the Year category. Winning was a reward for the investment made by the British Sub-Aqua Club in its own product, Go Diving!, produced by the BSAC and Pixel Page. picked up the statuette. A close second place was taken by a similar product, the Open Water Diver CD-Rom from PADI, which must indicate something about the changing face of diver training in the UK.
Third place went to a traditional book, Ned Middleton's Maltese Islands Dive Guide published by Swan Hill - a volume that has generated some varied correspondence in Diver in recent months.
Publication of the Year was the last of the six categories voted for by Diver readers. Who better to decide on Diver's Advertiser of the Year than the creative team that won the first such award, in 1996? Creative director Richard Saunders and art director Peter Celiz of ad agency J Walter Thompson were assisted by its former account director John Heatly, and Mel Colton, art director from Joshua.
These awards were launched independently in 1996 to recognise efforts being made by the diving trade to promote itself more effectively. Richard Saunders did however indicate the panel's disappointment that the standard of advertising had not improved further during 1998.
The Best Campaign Award returned to Uwatec, last year's winner. It is now part of Scubapro, and when Richard Saunders said Uwatec would not be allowed to win the award next year, the irony was not wasted on John Sinclair, formerly of that company, who collected the trophy! (That's him left, with Richard Saunders). Cressi-sub and Aquatours were runners-up.
The award for Best Single Page (or larger) went to Aqua-Lung UK (Technisub) with its full-page ad headlined Just Add Diver. Runners-up were Club Med and UWI Circle (Poseidon).
The Best Use of Part of a Page award went to BSAC insurer Chubb Insurance. Holidays for the Barefoot Traveller and UWI Circle (Bauer) were close behind.
Portfolios of six photographs each were submitted for Diver Photographer of the Year, which was judged by Nigel Eaton and John Bantin from Diver and Linda Dunk, last year's winner and Chairman of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP).
The judges looked for those photographers who could not only record an animal portrait competently but also capture the essence of the underwater experience on film. They looked for an interpretation of the space and liquidity of the environment, and for portfolios that made the viewer want to go diving.
Two sets of pictures stood out and Gavin Anderson, a familiar Diver contributor, was runner-up. First place however was taken by Ken Sullivan (seen left with Linda Dunk). Ken becomes this year's Diver Photographer of the Year. The pictures by Ken that impressed the judges can be seen in next month's issue.
The 1997 Conservationist of the Year was presented with the award by David Bellamy. This year he was the recipient.
David has been a tireless giant at the forefront of the battle to preserve our planet from the destruction that has at times seemed inevitable, and as a diver himself the fate of the world's reefs and oceans are close to his heart.
He has worked with countless organisations, including the Marine Conservation Society and Diver Magazine itself, towards this end. It is fitting that he should be recognised once again for all the work he does.
He was not in Britain to attend the Diver Awards, so Samantha Pollard from the MCS accepted the trophy on his behalf.
Finally to Diver of the Year. The deep-diving exploits of Kevin Gurr and his team, which was diving the 120m Britannic in the Mediterranean at around the time last year's awards were being presented, have fascinated divers throughout 1998. It was an object lesson in planning a challenging mixed-gas endeavour to minimise risk and maximise the opportunities to break new ground.
The expedition was featured in Diver and Kevin Gurr's presentation at last year's London International Dive Show proved so popular that he was invited back to Dive 98 and Underwater World among others to do it all over again.
Kevin, who runs Phoenix Diver Training of Wimborne in Dorset, has since moved on to other projects, including the quest for the Spanish treasure ship Nuestro Senora Del Pilar off Guam in the Pacific. Diver's Editor-in-Chief Bernard Eaton presented the Diver of the Year Award to Kevin Gurr (left) for representing the responsible face of technical diving.
Be ready to vote in '99
The 1998 Diver Awards drew a massive response from Diver readers, and if the growth in votes continues at the same rate in 1999 we will be drafting in armies of ballot-checkers.
The winner of 1550-worth of underwater camera equipment - a Sony TR camcorder and Top Dawg housing - drawn at random from among all the completed voting forms, was Scott Bentley of Narborough in Leicestershire. Your prize is on its way from distributor Videoquip, Scott.
A hundred other readers can look forward to receiving exclusive gold editions of Deep Down Divewear's Live and Let Dive T-shirt.
Thanks for your participation and get involved again in 1999 - keep in mind the various categories during the year, and be ready to cast your votes towards the end of summer.
