Our Projects

The British Marine Federation (BMF) is actively engaged in promoting the interests of its members through several strategic projects and initiatives.

On The Water

On The Water is the consumer brand of the BMF which aims to raise the awareness of boating, break down the barriers to entry and most importantly, encourage regular participation in boating.

Ultimately the goal is to increase the number of active boating participants of which there are currently around 3.2 million people who get on the water each year across a range of boating activities, from kayaking to sailing to inland boating.

Background
The five-year project was launched in January 2010 and since then has launched the website, supported numerous regional events and directed consumer enquiries to members.

The Next 12 Months
This year’s level of activity is in line with the original five year plan for the project, and over the next 12 months, a series of live events linked together via an email campaign that will be sent to an existing OTW database will take place. Some of the activities will be land based with simulators while other activities will be on water ‘in-craft activities’ both at shows and in the regions.

On The Water works with strategic partners to promote boating and watersports, namely the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), British Canoe Union (BCU), British Rowing and British Water Ski & Wakeboard. In 2014 the partners worked together to bring a month-long schedule of activities during May under the campaign National Watersports Month, where clubs, centres and marinas across the UK offered a host of boating and watersport activities.

Visit the Boating Events Calendar on the On The Water website for full details of upcoming events taking place. 

Member Opportunities
Members can get involved with events on a number of levels, from simply helping to man the stand, providing kit such as simulators, competition prizes and product placements to providing advice on getting started, where to go boating, what boats to go out in, and what equipment to use.

If you are a BMF member, region, group or association thinking of running an event, you can take advantage of the free marketing support from the BMF. Please contact the team with details of your event to go on the On The Water website, and find out about the On The Water Event Box available for you to use. This includes items to help you promote your event locally, along with branded bunting and booking forms, plus freebies to giveaway to event visitors in the form of floating keyrings and leaflets.

For more information please contact Tamsin Kirkpatrick on 01784 223647 or email tkirkpatrick@britishmarine.co.uk

The Green Blue

The Green Blue project is an innovative environmental awareness programme set up by the British Marine Federation (BMF) and the Royal Yacht Association (RYA) to help boat users, marine businesses and sailing clubs to reduce their impact on our coastal and inland waters.

The Green Blue raises awareness, conducts scientific research, identifies environmentally friendly products and offers easy best practice advice to anyone who seeks to make boating in the UK as sustainable as possible.

For more information visit the website