The boating world does not reflect the diversity of the societies it exists within, and a growing number of industry leaders argue that needs to change, not just for social reasons but for the long-term health of the marine industry.
Leisure boating has its roots in the pastimes of European royalty and the wealthy ruling class. According to a PhD study by Dutch sailor Eerde Beulakker, titled "Onderscheid moet er zijn" (distinction must be), the word "yacht" traces back to boats built for kings and counts, and the sector has retained much of that elite character across the centuries. Today's superyacht-owning billionaires broadly mirror the same demographic profile as those earliest owners.
Boating did broaden in the second half of the twentieth century, when rising working-class prosperity and affordable materials like glass fibre reinforced polyester made small cabin yachts accessible to everyday people. But the audience at marinas and boat shows still skews heavily towards men over 50, in professions such as medicine, law, or management.
The data reinforces that picture. A 2024 study by Icomia, the international council of leisure marine industry national business associations, found that only one third of staff across boating and yachting companies are female, dropping to 28% at senior level and just five percent at executive level. Nobody who completed the survey identified as a gender other than male or female.
Victoria Low, CEO of the Magenta Project, a foundation supporting inclusion of minority groups in sailing from small boats to ocean races, is direct about the stakes. "If sail racing remains as white a generation from now as it is today, the sport will be in trouble," she says. "In the sport of sail racing, its governing associations as well as in its every training on the water, the structures do not yet exist that could give everyone, regardless of gender, background, or identity, a fair chance to participate, progress, and be protected. Our data proves it. And their absence has real, measurable consequences, not just for the women who experience discrimination or violence, but for the sport itself, which loses talent, credibility, and commercial value every time it fails to act."
The commercial argument for change is also being made. "Studies have shown that diverse and inclusive companies perform better," writes Heidi Heseltine of the Diversity Study Group of the Global Maritime Forum. "Industries, including the marine industry, are ramping up efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workforce and reap the rewards – both for the employees and the companies themselves."
Community sailing and community boating projects operating across waterfront towns and cities in the United States are among the practical initiatives making inroads, often built on the efforts of committed individuals pulling together fleets available to young people from groups not traditionally involved in boating.
These issues will be discussed at the upcoming Metstrade edition during the Women in the Marine Industry International Breakfast and panel session, run in partnership with British Marine, Soundings Trade Only, Marine Industry News, and Metstrade.
