Yacht ownership increasing
More households in the UK now own a yacht, although an increasing number of cruisers are choosing to keep their boats abroad according to a new survey.
The Watersports Participation Survey 2017, which is produced annually for a consortium of marine bodies including the
RNLI, RYA and British Marine, shows overall sailing yacht ownership increased by 16% between 2012 and 2014, and 2015 and 2017. Just over 10% of these yachts were kept outside of the UK in 2015-2017, compared with less than 5% between 2012 and 2014.
Fewer households own small sailing boats, such as dinghies and open keel boats, with a 20% drop between 2012 and 2014, and 2015 and 2017.
The survey of 12,000 people also revealed that overall, 3.69 million adults took part in one of 12 core boating activities last year, ranging from yacht cruising to canoeing.
In 2017, 83,000 more people went yacht cruising compared to 2016. Long term, cruising remains consistent, with overall participations remaining stable in the decade between 2007 and 2017.
Cruisers are also choosing to sail abroad more, with a 2.6% increase in those sailing overseas in 2017 compared to 2016. Cruising in UK waters fell by 2.3%.
Small sailboat activities have declined both in the short and long term, but canoeing and stand-up paddle boarding is growing with an increase of 1.3% and 1.6% respectively between 2007 and 2017.
The RYA’S regional development office manager Guy Malpas said it was important that watersports remained accessible to people as their lifestyles changed, and the growth in canoeing and standup paddle boarding was positive as it allowed exposure to other boating activities.
He also said that identifying that the traditional route into sailing didn’t work for everyone was crucial, especially for attracting younger people to watersports.
Many clubs are embracing new ways to attract new sailors and keep them sailing, such as offering boats to rent or organising cruising activities.
Malpas said so-called ‘pay-andplay’ opportunities, allowing people to dip in and out of sailing, also encouraged people to get out on the water, as well as RYA initiatives such as May’s Push the Boat Out.
The survey also looked at boaters’ attitudes to safety, revealing that 57% of yacht cruisers wore a lifejacket or buoyancy aid continually while sailing. More than a quarter of yacht cruisers failed to check the weather forecast before heading out, with just 63% checking tide tables and 56% checking the boat’s seaworthiness.
Jon Oxenham from the RNLI Community Safety Team said its own survey on Personal Flotation Device (PFD) use showed a steady increase since 2014.
He added that it would continue to work with the likes of the Royal Yachting Association and the UK Coastguard to ‘encourage better and safer behaviours.’