It's time to announce the winner of our monthly photography competition here on TheMainSail - a little belatedly, we admit, but better late than never! Any photograph submitted to the gallery in the month of July was automatically considered for the prize of a 30cm x 40cm canvas of the photo, courtesy of boatArt.co.uk, and it was a tricky decision this time around.
We had several favourite photos in July. One was the seagull poised in flight which Chris Warden sent us towards the end of the month. The reflections on the water in Chris's photo are fantastic and his Scarlet Lady album is well worth a quick browse.
Another favourite picture was Dave's atmospheric July Sunset in Scotland - the mountains rising directly behind the marina really make the photo.
And finally we can't overlook Roxanna Maynard's Penzance album, which combines photos of sailing boats with snaps of every sea creature you could ever want to eat - and some you wouldn't!
But the winner turned out to be quite clear-cut in the end. Stephen Watkins submitted two photos to TheMainSail in July which both hauled in large numbers of votes - more than any other picture in the gallery. One was 1000 miles to go to the Azores - a real action sailing shot taken from the deck while passaging. But better still was this stunning picture:
Sunset, by Stephen Watkins
It's quit esimilar to Julie Berrow's photo of Dawn at Dale which carried off the gallery prize last month, but it's no less impressive for all that.
Congratulations to Stephen! boatArt.co.uk will be in touch with you shortly to arrange the delivery of your Sunset canvas. And for everyone else, remember that we give away a canvas each and every month in TheMainSail gallery, for the best sailing photo submitted to the gallery. Uploading a picture to the site has just become much quicker and easier so upload yours here, or have a look at the best photos this summer, featured in our latest fit of virtual cruising, to get some inspiration.
Good luck!
