“Green Product of the Year” Contest Deadline Extended to December 31, 2010

Official Grand Prize Winner to Receive $10,000 Award

WATSONVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--West Marine, the largest specialty retailer of boating equipment, supplies and accessories, announced a deadline extension for its second annual “Green Product of the Year” contest. As part of West Marine’s mission to reduce its impact on the environment, it continues to search for innovative, green products, and will award a grand prize of $10,000 to a designated official winner (void where prohibited by law) at the 2011 Miami International Boat Show.

“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 panel of esteemed judges includes:

• Bill Lee, aka “Wizard”, Boat Builder, Designer and Owner, Wizard Yacht Sales
• Jim Leishman, Owner/Vice President, Nordhavn Yachts
• Randy Repass, Chairman and Founder, West Marine
• Margaret Podlich, Vice President 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 extend 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:

1) Effective: Is the product as effective as competitive products in the marketplace?

2) 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).

3) 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.

4) 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?

5) 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.

6) 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.

About West Marine

West Marine, the largest specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories, has more than 325 company-operated stores located in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada, and three franchised stores in Turkey. Its call center and Internet channels offer customers over 60,000 products plus the convenience of being able to order online and ship to a local store free of charge. The Port Supply division is one of the largest wholesale distributors of marine equipment serving boat manufacturers, marine services, commercial vessel operators and government agencies. For more information on West Marine's products and store locations, or to start shopping, visit www.westmarine.com.