Sea Tow Announces Boating Safety Award Winners

The  Sea Tow Foundation , a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting boating safety, in conjunction with their  Boating Safety Advisory Council , announced the winners of its fourth annual National Boating Industry Safety Awards. The awards recognize efforts to promote safety on the water within the for-profit sector of the boating industry.

The honorees will receive the awards via a special online awards ceremony. The awards ceremony and video interviews with the winners have been posted to the  Sea Tow Foundation’s website and shared on  LinkedIn. The winners of the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Awards are:

Top Marine Media Outlet – Rapid Media

For the second year,  Rapid Media  has won the top prize in this category. As a contractor for the Water Sports Foundation, they developed a targeted boating safety marketing campaign focused on the highest risk, most difficult to reach new paddlers, many of whom purchased from non-boating retailers which lack boating safety and educational components.

Top Gear & Equipment Manufacturer – Garmin International

Starting with a focused public relations campaign during National Safe Boating Week,  Garmin  International  succeeded in its multi-channel marketing approach to promote safe and responsible boating. Efforts included blogs, social media, video, email, and strategic alliances with safe boating organizations featuring evergreen content to reach a broad audience across the boating demographic.

1st Place Marine Public Relations, Advertising or Marketing Effort – Chubb Personal Risk Services

As an insurance company,  Chubb Personal Risk Services  invested in an engaging campaign designed to minimize risk by delivering comprehensive coverage of boating safety. Utilizing multiple marketing platforms including a mix of social media, email and its website, Chubb deployed high quality photos, videos, and targeted boating safety to effectively reach and influence its boating audience.

2nd Place Marine Public Relations, Advertising or Marketing Effort – Colle McVoy

As the advertising agency for the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, Colle McVoy launched a consumer-facing campaign entitled “Get On Board” to encourage boaters to get on the water and go fishing, but to do so safely utilizing life jackets and other safety gear. The campaign leveraged digital efforts, social media, and traditional media via a joint PSA video produced in partnership with the National Marine Manufacturers Association to showcase active families, women boaters, and other under-represented groups, featuring custom music and lyrics to illustrate the joys of boating.

Top Large Marine Retailer – MarineMax

For the fourth consecutive year, MarineMax demonstrated its commitment to boating safety in its new “Back to (Boating) School” campaign utilizing multiple delivery methods including email, social media, video, and its website. Using an interactive online quiz, boaters can test their knowledge and as a logical next step, MarineMax offers boating safety classes and events throughout its organization to help boaters become more knowledgeable and proficient on the water.

Special Judges Award:

Top Social Media Boating Safety Influencer – The Qualified Captain

The Executive Committee created a special award designation to recognize distinguished performance in the social media category for  The Qualified Captain . While numerous content providers and platforms share “boating gone wrong” videos on social media to earn likes and shares, The Qualified Captain has adopted a highly effective educational approach to this effort, earning bragging rights as the number one social media influencing page in the boating industry. With more than 906,000 followers, The Qualified Captain champions responsible boating safety, showcasing not only what could go wrong and how to avoid the pitfalls, but also offering an online boating safety course to promote safety and education.