IBEX names Innovation Awards judges

The International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX) has announced the judges for the 22nd IBEX Innovation Awards Program. This year’s program marks the largest to date, with more than 110 marine products entered.

“IBEX is the centerpiece to fostering, encouraging and showcasing innovation in the manufacturing segment of the marine industry to improve the boating lifestyle,” said Mary Velline, show director of IBEX. “Each and every year, we’re honored to celebrate innovators and the revolutionary concepts, products and solutions that continue to impact the future of boating. We know the Innovation Awards are a moment of extreme pride for both entrants and winners, and we’re looking forward to highlighting this year’s winners.”

This year’s awards will be presented at the annual Industry Breakfast on Tuesday, October 7, at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, Tampa Bay Ballroom.

Each of the eight BWI judges brings various technical and boating backgrounds. The panel of judges for the 2025 IBEX Innovation Awards are:

• Ben Stein (Chair): Ben Stein is editor of Panbo.com, covering marine technology. He also writes a monthly Getting Technical column for Soundings Trade Only and serves as electronics editor for Power & Motoryacht. Stein chairs the NMMA’s Innovation Awards at IBEX and co-chairs the awards at the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show. Additionally, he is a member of the DAME design awards jury at Metstrade. After 15 years in financial services technology, he left the corporate world to pursue his passion for boating. Stein is the current president of Boating Writers International, a USCG 100-Ton Master, and ABYC-certified marine electrical technician.
   
• Tim Murphy (Co-Chair): Tim Murphy is the education director for the American Boat & Yacht Council. A contributing editor to BoatUS Magazine and a Cruising World editor-at-large, Murphy has worked as a marine journalist for more than 30 years. Having directed and judged Cruising World’s Boat of the Year program for two decades, he has sea-trialed more than 500 new boats in that time. He co-wrote Fundamentals of Marine Service Technology (ABYC 2012). He is the author of Adventurous Use of the Sea (Seapoint Books, 2022). Murphy holds a USCG 100-Ton Master’s license.
   
• Theresa Nicholson: Theresa Nicholson is an award-winning journalist who has covered the marine industry for 25 years. She is the former senior editor of Cruising World, and an IBEX Innovation Award and Newport for New Products judge. This past summer, she worked at the marina in Yellowstone National Park. Nicholson lived aboard her 31-foot ketch for 11 years and sailed from Miami to Malaysia. Her work currently focuses on weather, marine safety, risk analysis, the environment and high latitude sailing.
   
• Pim Van Hemmen: Pim Van Hemmen is the former deputy editor of Soundings magazine. In a previous life, he spent 25 years in the newspaper industry and another decade as a nautical photographer. He is a lifelong boater and when he isn’t photographing or writing about boats, he can be found on the water aboard his Zodiac RIB.
   
• Wendy Mitman Clarke: Wendy Mitman Clarke is a 35-year marine industry and general assignment writer and journalist who was most recently the editor-in-chief of SAIL magazine. A lifelong sailor, she has cruised and raced all manner of boats, including four years cruising full-time with her family and numerous offshore passages and races. She and her husband own a 1978 Peterson 34 they sail regularly on the Chesapeake Bay, and a 1966 Cal 40 they are restoring.
   
• Pete McDonald: Pete McDonald is the executive editor of Boating Magazine, where he first started working in 1998. He’s also been a BWI member since 1999 and started serving on the board in 2023.
   
• Steve Mitchell: Steve Mitchell is a year-round Pacific Northwest cruiser aboard his 50-foot steel trawler and a lifelong boater with experience in both sail and power. With decades in the technology industry and over 20 years of hands-on experience designing and installing marine electronics, electrical systems, and optimized solutions for customers, he blends technical expertise with real-world cruising insight. As founder of SeaBits, he tests, reviews, and consults on the latest marine technology, and contributes to 48° North and other boating publications.
   
• Ryan Gullang: Ryan Gullang is the Communications Coordinator and Program Manager for Annapolis Boat Shows. As a freelance writer, his DIY and tech articles have appeared in BoatUS, Boats.com, FishTalk, and SpinSheet Magazine. He has served on three NMMA Innovation Award panels and, in 2021, received the BWI Active Interest Boating Media Journalist Scholarship.

IBEX will take place at the Tampa Convention Center, Oct. 7-9.