Women want instruction in engines and navigation

From Soundings ezine

Issue Date 12/27/2006 Posted On: 12/27/2006

A recent online survey by BoatU.S. found that many women think there aren't enough opportunities for them to beef-up their boating know-how. Especially lacking, according to survey respondents, are programs specifically tailored for women.

More than 400 women responded to the "Boating Learning and Education Survey for Women." Two-thirds of the women had taken some sort of classroom training and nearly three-quarters had some hands-on instruction. There was also clear support (59%) for more women-only courses. And of those who had taken a women-only course, more found the training effective (33%) than ineffective (11%).

Respondents said that motivation for taking a boating course ranged from wanting to improve boathandling skills to learning what to do in an emergency. The most-wanted instruction topics are engine and electrical knowledge, both how to operate and fix such systems (71%), and navigation (62%).

More than three-quarters of respondents own either a powerboat (55%) or a sailboat (53%), and 6 percent said they were planning on buying a boat.

BoatU.S. sponsors two annual women's sailing conventions that teach a variety of boating skills in women-only settings. The 18th Annual Women's Sailing Convention takes place February 3 in Corona del Mar, California, and the East Coast event is held annually in early June in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

For more information, contact www.BoatUS.com/women.

Reprinted with permission from Soundings Publications LLC