Raymarine UK will donate prizes for a special competition being run by National Historic Ships which will help promote the use of electronic navigational equipment to increase safety at sea.

Applications for this competition are now being invited from owners of craft on the National Register of Historic Vessels. To be in with a chance of winning, entrants must propose a worthy story of why their vessel is most in need of Raymarine’s state-of-the-art electronic equipment.

The prizes on offer (valued at over £4,000) include an electronic chartplotter (C120W), and an AIS 500 (Automatic Identification System), which helps identify vessels and reduce danger of collisions at sea by displaying course, bearing and heading of vessels within a certain area.

Entrants can give an account of a real-life experience whereby having marine electronics onboard would have greatly helped, or a bid for upgraded equipment which will enable the vessel to undertake more ambitious voyages in future.

Sarah Brooke, Raymarine UK Sales & Marketing Executive, says; “Raymarine is very pleased to be supporting National Historic Ships, which represents a worthwhile cause. It is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to the preservation of British maritime history, and to raise awareness of how today’s marine electronics can contribute to safety at sea; Raymarine’s range of marine electronics can be retrofitted to any vessel, regardless of age.”

National Historic Ships was established in 2006 as a non-departmental public body reporting to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport with a specific remit to advise the Secretary of State and other public bodies on ship preservation and funding priorities.

The deadline for competition entries is Monday 15th August with entries to be submitted via the National Historic Ships’ website. The winner will be later announced at the Southampton Boat Show on Saturday 17th September where they will be presented with their prize on the Raymarine stand, at the show.