Run by sister sailing titles, Practical Boat Owner and Yachting Monthly, the aim of the awards is to highlight the products and services that boat owners and sailors genuinely value, trust and recommend.

The shortlist of nominees was based on the number of times each had been nominated by the public and then the top three in each category were put forward to a public vote.

Sponsored by Haven Knox-Johnston, the awards celebrated marine excellence across 10 categories. The winners were as follows:

Deck Equipment: Hydrovane
Electronics, navigation & communication: Savvy Navvy
Clothing & accessories: Heni-Lloyd Ocean PRO range
Maintenance & boat building products: Bruntons Autoprop
Engines & outboards: ePropulsion eLite
Safety gear: Spinlock Deckvest lifejacket range
Domestic systems eg. plumbing, air con, heating, cooking: Renogy Bifacial solar panels
Dinghy, tender & water toys: 3D Superlight Twin Air 270
Insurer (overall provider): Haven Knox-Johnston
Customer service award: Icom UK

“It’s fantastic just to be nominated, and then, of course, to win the safety category for our Deckvest VITO AFS lifejacket is even better,” said James Hall, Marketing and Sales Manager at Spinlock. “It’s a product we’ve had in development for many, many years, having had the opportunity to take a fresh look at flotation and in-water performance.

“The fact that is is the yachting public that voted for us is even better again – we know that the boating community in the UK are very demanding of their products, so actually to be recognised by public makes it extra special.”

A Special Lifetime Achievement Award for services to the marine industry was also awarded to surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies for his commitment to educating the wider sailing public about safety and maintenance over the decades.

“Firstly, I feel very humbled to receive this award from the readers and the group of publications I’ve written and contributed to for many years. As a surveyor through my writing, talks at the shows, yacht clubs and YouTube all I’ve tried to do is make going on the water safe and fun for everyone.

“I’d like to pay tribute to John Goode who pushed me into writing and talks at the boat shows back in 2009! Again many thanks and I hope to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Ben.

Katy Stickland, sail group editor at Future Publishing, said: “The fact that the nominees and the winners were chosen by sailors who are using these products and services, rather than our editorial teams or industry insiders gives a true reflection on how valued they are by sailors, and I want to congratulate all of the winners and nominees.”

Haven Knox-Johnston’s Paul Knox-Johnston said: “Sponsoring the inaugural Sailors’ Choice Awards was an easy decision for us at Haven Knox-Johnston.

“At the heart of what we do is helping boat owners feel more prepared and confident out on the water, through sensible insurance, practical advice, our webinar series, and the free guides we produce for boaters.

“What makes these awards stand out is that they’re decided by sailors themselves, not by us or anyone else in the industry. That kind of honest, first-hand feedback is invaluable, and it’s exactly what we wanted to support.”

He added: “A huge congratulations to all of this year’s winners, every one of them thoroughly deserved. Being chosen by your own customers and fellow boaters is about as genuine a form of recognition as it gets.

“It’s brilliant to see the sailing community come together like this, and we’re proud to have played a part in celebrating it.”