In September you’ll be able to get digital versions of RYA publications straight to your iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, thanks to a free app from the RYA.

Users will be able to view excerpts of publications for free, with the option of buying publications to download in full.

You can download the free app now, but you’ll need to wait until after the launch at the PSP Southampton Boat Show to download content.

Steen Ingerslev, RYA publications manager, said the sophistication of smartphones and tablets has allowed creativity to flourish, bringing new improvements to existing publications. “We will start with embedding animation and video content,” he said, “but with the rate that technology advances, who knows where we’ll be in a year!”

The RYA team will launch the app at the PSP Southampton Boat Show. If you’re one of the first 50 people to head to stand EO37 and show you’ve downloaded the free app, you’ll win a donut.

Furthermore, the RYA are giving away an iPad 2. You can enter when registering for the app.

Whilst downloads will only be available on apple products at the moment, Steen said the RYA is “already looking at providing the books via Android devices for later this year”.