Boat ownership, female participation and canoeing all on the rise in North West

ACCORDING to new research 348,000 adults in the North West (6.1% of the local population) took to water by 1 or more of 12 boating activities1 in 2014. This reflects an increase of 0.5% in the number of participants from 2013.  Whilst in the region, participation in any Watersports activity in addition to the 12 core boating activities2 stands just over 1 million (18.4% of local adults), a slight decrease of 4.7% points (compared to 23.1% in 2013). But more importantly, these figures reveal significant growth within certain demographics and boating activities.  The Watersports Participation Survey is conducted annually by a consortium of leading marine bodies including British Marine Federation (BMF), RYA (Royal Yachting Association), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), British Canoeing (BC) and Marine Management Organisation (MMO).

Key findings:-

► Gender; nationally female participation in:- 'any boating activity' continues a steady increase since 2010 and is now at the joint highest (6.2%, 2007) it has been since the study began in 2002. Males are more likely to be enthusiasts than females with 28% participating more than 6 times per year, compared to 17% for females.

► Age; nationally participation in 'any boating activity' amongst those over 55 has been steadily increasing since 2011 and it is now at its highest volume since the survey began; the volume increase since 2002 stands at 66%. For the 16 to 34 and 35 to 54 age groups, participation rates have remained fairly stable over the past 6 years.

► Activity; with 171,000 people in the North West taking to the water in a canoe (3.0% of the local population) the region's canoeing participation rate rises by 0.9% for 2014 (compared to 2.1% in 2013). Other boating activities to see a rise in local popularity are yacht cruising and power boating with increases of 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

► Casual v enthusiast; following a UK rise last year in 'casual' participants in boating activities (less than 6 times), there has been a shift this year with a slight fall in:- 'casuals' and a corresponding rise in the proportion of:- 'enthusiasts' (more than 6 times a year), returning closer to previously seen levels at 77%.

► Boat ownership; more than 1.2 million boats are owned by households in the UK, an increase to 1,214,154 in 2012-14 (from 1,163,726 in 2011 to 2013), with 49,872 households in Scotland owning one or more boats, of which at least 23,564 canoes/kayaks are owned by local residents.

The figures form part of a national picture which saw 3.5 million adults take to the water in core boating activities, matching 2013 at 7.1% of the total adult population in the UK.

Howard Pridding, Chief Executive of British Marine Federation said:- "The figures for the number of people participating in boating and watersports are encouraging but there's also plenty of room for growth. Getting out on the water is a hugely enjoyable pastime whether you're a casual participant or much more of an enthusiast, and the marine industry is in great shape to provide plenty of opportunities to enable this."