The first-ever global effort to establish a day highlighting recreational and professional opportunities in boating, yachting, and superyachting is underway. World Boating Day, set for next May, already has the support of more than a dozen yachting companies as well.
Occurring May 25 to 26, 2024, the event coincides with the unofficial start of summer in many tourism-oriented regions. Additionally, it coincides with the annual Safe Boating Week in the United States.
World Boating Day is an initiative of The Superyacht Life Foundation, a non-profit striving to change the conversation around yachting. With industry stakeholders, the organization is aiming for a variety of ways for the public to learn and enjoy themselves. For instance, some of the participants, which currently include 15 superyacht shipyards and one marina, will host open houses. They’ll provide tours of their facilities, especially to educate people about yacht construction, design, and more. Virtual tours may be available for those who can’t come in person, too. Additionally, watersports lessons, try-before-you-buy experiences, and career days for students are among the other plans.
The Superyacht Life Foundation is launching World Boating Day for three primary reasons. Firstly, the organization wants to introduce more people, regardless of age, to being on the water and enjoying cruising. Secondly, just as important as educating people about being on the water, World Boating Day will raise awareness of job and career opportunities. From designers to pipewelders and from crewmembers to dockmasters, new talent can find and fill many roles. Thirdly, the weekend will help the superyacht sector combat a longstanding issue, that being having a shroud of secrecy, which fuels misconceptions. The industry has largely promoted itself through yachting media, for example, and not reached out to mainstream media to share manufacturing, innovation, or human-interest stories.
Dilan Sarac, The Superyacht Life Foundation’s executive director, says, “World Boating Day is a potential gateway to growing all levels of the industry, as well as serving as a global celebration of the leisure side of water and the joy of being out on it.” She adds that the non-profit believes strongly in growing the weekend in subsequent years. “From sailing schools and clubs offering sessions on sailing dinghies to superyacht builders giving a behind-the-scenes peek at the extraordinary number of trades and craftspeople involved in the industry, this is our chance to show that boating and yachting can be for everyone,” Sarac explains.
More details will follow in the coming months, according to the Superyacht Life Foundation. That includes the names of the 15 shipyards and the marina participating.
The Superyacht Life Foundation thesuperyachtlife.com
Leave a Reply