Photo Finish!

Australasia’s most trusted name in pleasure craft insurance, Club Marine, has recently wrapped up its Club Kids Fun Photo Contest and awarded Jon Poyner, an amateur photographer from New South Wales, a trip for two to the spectacular Groote Eylandt Escape fishing resort in Australia’s Top End.

Launched in October 2009, the Club Kids Fun Photo Contest challenged Australia’s and New Zealand’s proudest parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to submit their favourite photos of kids on or around the water. Co-sponsored by the Escape with ET TV show and Big W, the contest ran for 12 months and received over 2000 photos from across the two countries.

Mr Poyner’s winning photo featured a fantastic encounter between his daughter Georgia and a gentle stingray at a boat ramp in Narooma, NSW. A bricklayer by trade, Poyner calls himself a ‘self-taught’ photographer who gets a lot of practice taking pictures of his children, Tess, Jakob and Georgia, all of whom are keen fishos who love to be in, on or under the water.

The Grand Prize – a four-day trip for two to Andrew ‘ET’ Ettingshausen’s Escape Sportfishing and Wilderness Lodge on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, including flights, transfers, lodging and fully-guided fishing tours.

Greg Fisher, Club Marine CEO, says the Club Kids Fun Photo Contest has been as rewarding for Club Marine as it has been for those who submitted photos. “Seeing the thousands of photos that came in reminded us all why we’re in the business we’re in,” he said. “And they proved that the active marine lifestyle is alive and well in the next generation of fishers and boaters.”

To get his unique ‘above-and-below-the-water shot’, Poyner used a small plastic rubbish bin with a hole in one side. “I glued a piece of glass over the hole with silicon sealing, Poyner explained. “And when we got to the boat ramp, I just put the camera in the bin and kept shooting until I got the shot.”

Poyner is now turning his attention to his trip to Groote Eylandt with his daughter, Georgia, who is tremendously excited about the trip. “She’s never been on a plane before,” said the proud dad. “This will definitely be one of the most memorable events of her childhood.”

To see the full gallery of Club Kids photos, visit: www.clubmarine.com.au.