Watersports and Particpation Survey

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is tasked with reducing the frequency and severity of incidents within the UK Search and Rescue region (UKSRR). As part of their remit the MCA are monitoring the scale and nature of the leisure use of British coastal water sites and a number of key inland sites.  Because of a lack of suitable primary and secondary data sources on the number of people participating in leisure activities in coastal waters, this study was commissioned in 2004 as RP533 (and continued in 2005, 2006 and 2007 as RP548) to provide the necessary data.

Based on their experience of providing the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) British Marine Federation (BMF) and other sponsors with a credible measure of boating activity in the UK for the last 4 years, Arkenford Ltd were appointed to design and implement a replicable methodology that would deliver robust participation estimates for 21 leisure based beach and coastal water activities.

The rigorous and systematic collection of participation data has enabled the MCA to provide participation estimates and to derive estimates of equivalent fatality rates (EFRs) for these activities. The establishment of accurate EFRs will continue to assist the MCA to prioritise and influence the allocation of prevention resources targeting those activities and areas that pose the most significant risks.

The adopted approach is based on a nationally representative sample of the population of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), recording leisure activities and when and where they take place.  This data set is based on a sample of 12,000 members of the UK public aged 16+.

From 2005-2008 this survey was carried out in partnership with the British Marine Federation (BMF), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and Sunsail. This cooperation allowed the survey to double its sample size compared to the research in 2004.

Please use this link to access the latest report.