Brian Black Memorial Award 2026 — Adult Photo Competition

The Brian Black Memorial Award is Yachting Monthly's annual marine environmental journalism and photography prize, run with sponsorship from Coppercoat. It is named for Brian Black, a sailor and journalist who covered the marine environment, and is administered with input from his daughter Sarah Brown alongside the magazine's editorial team.

The 2026 brief is 'Our Inspiring Seas' — work that captures encounters with marine wildlife or the wider marine environment in a way that reflects the theme's optimism rather than purely cataloging damage. The award sits alongside a parallel article competition and a separate junior photo category for entrants aged 16 and under.

Adult photo entries are a single image paired with a 300-word explanation covering what the photograph shows, where it was taken, why the entrant wanted to make it, and how the image was captured. Entrants also submit a personal photograph and a 100-word biography.

The judging panel pairs photography editors with marine specialists: circumnavigator Mike Golding, TV presenter and environmentalist Monty Halls, conservationist Dr Bob Brown, Sarah Brown, and the editorial teams of Yachting Monthly and Digital Camera World. The adult winner receives camera equipment worth £750; junior winner £500. Yachting Monthly also donates £500 to Sea-Changers, a marine conservation charity. Eligibility is restricted to UK residents. Entry is free, with a deadline of August 30, 2026.