The Sea Tow Foundation is showcasing the winners of the 2023 National Boating Safety Awards via individualized blog posts that answer specific questions posted to each winning company.

Boating Magazine, which is owned by Firecrown Media, won the 2023 National Boating Safety Award in the category of Top Marine Media Outlet.

1. Please briefly describe your winning entry and tell us about the process of creating/launching it. Did it take a lot of planning or was it something that came together fairly quickly?
   
   

The video “Penny Wise, Lifetime Foolish” was an effort to dramatize a very real shortcoming among new boaters in terms of boating safety. It springs naturally from parents’ understanding that kids grow quickly and buying clothes that are much too large is a common practice to optimize the expenditure. But, in boating, a life jacket that doesn’t fit, doesn’t do the job it was designed for and the money is wasted. As a result, children’s lives can be in danger.

2. What inspired your company to promote boating safety? Was this the first time doing so or has there been previous boating safety promotions?

Boating Magazine and its sister publications, Yachting, Cruising World, Sailing World and Saltwater Sportsman have been engaged with the U.S. Coast Guard and Water Sports Industry Association for over a decade to produce content that promotes best practices in boating safety. Since we began our work, the USCG has congratulated us for doing our part to decrease boating deaths.

3. What does winning this award mean for your company?

The recognition associated with this award raises the esteem and importance of our project’s efforts and encourages all stakeholders to continue in our work to make boaters safer.

4. What was a key takeaway you received as a result of working on this project or campaign?

Some of our audience commented that the ill-fitting, cheap life jackets on the kids in the video were just not realistic and this was actually reassuring to our team’s effort. But, our goal was to highlight that behavior and offer a dramatic lesson on the importance of correcting it to reach the boaters we’ve seen and know who have fallen prey to the misconception that “kids will grow into their life jackets,” they have to fit NOW.

The Sea Tow Foundation is showcasing the winners of the 2023 National Boating Safety Awards via individualized blog posts that answer specific questions posted to each winning company.

Regal & Nautique of Orlando won the 2023 National Boating Safety Award in the category of Top Marine Retailer.

1. Please briefly describe your winning entry and tell us about the process of creating/launching it.

Regal & Nautique of Orlando has been a long-time advocate of boating safety, and we were very pleased by the opportunity to share our strategic retail initiatives and activities in hopes that other dealers will “see the light” and share in similar efforts. Our winning entry reflected our dealership’s holistic approach to boating safety which runs throughout all aspects of our business and operations, from active engagement among our leadership team in industry-sponsored boating safety initiatives, to our own ongoing customer education and promotion via safety training and onboarding, along with participation in multiple events and marketing communication platforms.

2. What inspired your company to promote boating safety?

Boating safety is an integral component in our dealership DNA and has been a major mission for our dealership since Day One. We believe safe boaters are happy boaters. Educated boaters are far more confident on the water and that contributes to a more fulfilling and enjoyable experience for everyone on board. As a dealership, boating safety is a key part of our stewardship to provide the best boating experience possible for our customers.

3. What partnerships, media coverage and/or opportunities have you received as a result of winning the award?
   
   

We appreciated the solid national media coverage generated as a result of winning this award and we also shared the news locally, and directly with our customers through various marketing communication channels. We have long-standing boating safety partnerships in place with “Ride Dry. Drive Dry” and others, plus we have intentionally shared and promoted the good works of multiple other boating safety organizations via our social platforms, website Learning Center blog and via customer eblasts. 

4. Is your company working on any future boating safety projects or campaigns? If so, is there anything you can share about what you’re planning to do?

Regal & Nautique of Orlando will continue to promote and participate in ongoing boating safety activities and initiatives on both the national and local level for our team members, customers, and with our dealership events and tournament series.  Some big news to share is that we have launched our exciting online pro shop at www.WakeUnited.com. Here, we offer a full line-up of the latest boating safety equipment and gear that is sure to resonate with our customers and the boating community at large!

The Sea Tow Foundation is showcasing the winners of the 2023 National Boating Safety Awards via individualized blog posts that answer specific questions posted to each winning company.

Garmin won the 2023 National Boating Safety Award in the category of Top Gear & Equipment Manufacturer.

1. What inspired your company to promote boating safety?
   
   Many people think that safe boating just means wearing a life jacket (which is important), but there are so many additional ways to ensure you have an enjoyable – and safe – day out on the water. Garmin’s mission is to create products that are an essential part of our customers’ lives, which includes boating and fishing. From up-to-date mapping to sonar technology, marine radars, AIS and VHF equipment to inReach satellite communicators, Garmin products can help make the difference between a good and bad day on the water, and we’re passionate about ensuring our customers know how to use their electronics so they can make the most out of doing what we all love so much – enjoying the water.
   
   
2. What partnerships, media coverage and/or opportunities have you received as a result of winning the award?
   
   Since collaborating with The Qualified Captain to raise awareness for boating safety last year, we have continued to strengthen our partnership with them and their platform. What started as a place to highlight on-the-water incidents that could have been avoided has turned into a platform for boating safety education and we are proud to continue collaborating with them to expose more people to tips on how to make the most of their time spent on the water.

It was also great to see many consumer and trade media outlets cover the awards program, which hopefully generates more boating safety content and commentary on their various news platforms.

3. What was a key takeaway you received as a result of working on this project or campaign?
   
   It’s rewarding to see the interest and engagement in safe boating content increase from year to year – it means we’re reaching more boaters and anglers and hopefully making our waters safer for everyone. We were also thrilled to learn that the Sea Tow Foundation received a record-breaking number of entries to their Safety Awards program in 2023 – the more people promoting boating safety, the better! It’s great to see so many companies and brands from all facets of the industry coming together to raise awareness of something that will impact generations of boaters for years to come.
   
   
4. Is your company working on any future boating safety projects or campaigns? If so, is there anything you can share about what you’re planning to do?
   
   

We recently issued a report outlining Garmin inReach SOS data from 2023, which showed that boating was the fourth highest activity people were doing when they triggered an SOS. The top reasons Garmin customers are triggering an SOS is for injury or an accident, which validates our efforts to promote safer boating practices for anyone leaving the dock. As we look ahead, we remain committed to creating purposeful, informative content, media outreach, education and more for a stronger and safer community of boaters.