Who Went Boating in 2011?

Published on 15/3/2012

The 10th Watersports and Leisure Participation report is now available to download for free – find out who went boating by boat type, demographics, frequency and location and what boats are owned in the UK.

This survey of 12,000 adults has been tracking trends in boating for a decade to give BMF members and the industry invaluable information about their market. In the current survey, we also ask about water-based activities such as angling and sub-aqua diving.

Key findings are as follows:

• Up to 3.2 million UK adults (5.9% of the population) participated in at least one of the 12 boating activities* compared to 5.6% in 2010, 7.2% in 2009 and 6.2% in 2008. This slight increase reflects a recovery from the low rates in 2010 though not back up to levels of 2009.
• The increase is largely due to casual boaters who had decreased in 2010 but also it is likely to be influenced by the increase in general holiday visits taking place by UK residents (up 5% in 2011 compared to 2010).
• There have been statistically significant increases in three boating activities – rowing/sculling, canal boating and small sail boat (dinghy) racing
• 2.7% report their household owns at least one boat or craft which equates to up to 1.1 million, the largest of which is canoes/kayaks.
• Taking into account wider water-based activities** up to 12.9 million UK adults participated in 2011 (25.0%) which is slightly lower than in 2009 (26.3%) when last measured.
• Since 2009 there has been one significant increase in these wider set of activities which is angling from a boat.

For more details please click here to read the executive summary or here for the full report which includes details on 21 activities, gender, age, lifestage, frequency, domestic v abroad, location of household, where activity takes place and different types of boat ownership.

The report in 2011 was commissioned by the consortium of British Marine Federation (BMF), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Royal Yachting Association (RYA), joined by British Canoe Union (BCU) since 2010, and we delighted to now welcome the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

The BMF conducts this annual survey to enable the Federation to promote the industry to Government and the media, and to provide market knowledge to for members to grow and enhance their businesses. For any questions on this report please contact research@britishmarine.co.uk and for more research visit www.britishmarine.co.uk/research

* The 12 boating activities making up “Any Boating Activity” includes Small sail boat racing, Small sail boat activities, Yacht racing, Yacht cruising, Power boating, Motor boating/Cruising, Using Personal Watercraft, Rowing/sculling, Canoeing, Canal boating, Water skiing and Windsurfing.

** The 21 activities making up “Any Activity” includes all of the boating activities above plus Surfboarding, Angling from the shore, Angling from a boat, Outdoor Swimming, Leisure Sub Aqua diving, Cliff Climbing, Coastal Walking, Spending General Leisure time at the beach and Kitesurfing.