West Marine extended the deadline for its second annual “Green Product of the Year” contest. The national boating supplies retailer continues to search for innovative, green products, and will award a grand prize of $10,000 to a winner at the 2011 Miami International Boat Show.


The panel of judges includes:



  • Bill Lee, aka “Wizard”, boat builder, designer and owner, Wizard Yacht Sales
  • Jim Leishman, owner/VP, Nordhavn Yachts
  • Randy Repass, chairman and founder, West Marine
  • Margaret Podlich, VP of governmental affairs for BoatUS
  • Dr. Randy Kochevar, Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station
  • Ron Japinga, Executive Vice President – merchandising, West Marine
  • Mike Sutton, VP and director, Center for the Future of the Oceans, Monterey Bay Aquarium
  • Chuck Hawley, VP of product information, West Marine
  • Dr. Laura Strohm, Strohm Sustainability Consulting

“In an effort to include the new products that were showcased at IBEX and METS, we’ve extended the Green Product of the Year deadline to December 31, 2010,” said Laurie Fried, chief sustainability officer for West Marine. “We hope to increase the number of entries and be able to highlight green boating innovations at the Miami International Boat Show in February, 2011.”


The competition is free and open to individuals, manufacturers, distributors and/or inventors of boating products. Judges will select the winner based on the following criteria:



  • Effective: Is the product as effective as competitive products in the marketplace? 
  • Economical: Is the product priced competitively with existing solutions or similar products on the market? This can be measured on a per-use basis or a cost-justified basis (i.e. use of the product saves X amount of dollars).
  • Environmental Impact: How does the use of this product benefit the environment? Due to the diversity of product categories, this could be expressed in reduced fuel consumption, reduction of chemicals of concern, reduced air or water pollution or another metric.
  • Degree of Innovation: Was the product introduced to the marketplace in 2009 or 2010? Is the product different from anything else in the marketplace? Does the product incorporate new materials or technologies?
  • Verification of Claims: All environmental or efficacy claims must be verifiable and substantiated by an independent third party. Entrants must provide actual data, test results, laboratory analyses, etc. 
  • Compliance with Official Rules: Does the entry and entrant, in all respects, comply with these official rules?

Participants can enter the contest, as well as view the complete rules and entry requirements, at westmarine.com/green.