Boat Owners Association of The United States - BoatUS - is a non-stock association with no stockholders, incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. Members are listened to intently, and drive many changes in BoatUS programs and policies, but do not have a “legal” say in running the organization. The Association does not publish an annual report.

BoatUS officers direct the Association activities. The officers are elected by a Board of Directors and receive advice from a National Advisory Council (NAC). The Board Members and NAC Members are listed below. They can all be reached through:

Executive Office

BoatUS
880 S. Pickett Street
Alexandria, VA 22304

A minority of the BoatUS Board is employed by Boat America Corporation. Boat America Corporation has a contract with BoatUS to provide services to BoatUS and it’s Members, including insurance, towing and boat financing. Boat America Corporation is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, chaired by Warren Buffet.

Also affiliated with BoatUS is the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that is funded mainly through voluntary tax-deductible donations from BoatUS members. It also receives grants from the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA and other organizations. The Foundation’s annual report is published and available online at www.BoatUS.com/Foundation/AnnualReport.htm.

The Association currently has two registered lobbyists on staff actively lobbying in the federal and state arenas on issues that affect recreational boaters. BoatUS does not have a party affiliation, but rather supports any politician, regardless of political party, who advocates on behalf of boat owners and their access to the water.

The Association’s lobbying activities are all directed at protecting or enhancing the interests of boat owners. Some of its successes include bringing boat manufacturers under regulation by the U.S. Coast Guard; causing the passage of a boat defect law protecting boat owners; getting Congress to revoke both the boat user fee tax and the subsequent tax on diesel fuel for recreational boats; repealing the luxury tax on boats; encouraging the FCC to waive their fee on VHF radios for recreational boats; getting the Coast Guard to continue maintaining Loran; and, recently, encouraging the Coast Guard to drop it’s idea of creating a new security ID for every boater. More currently, the Association action list includes working to get EPA and/or Congress to reinstate a 34-year permit exemption for recreational boats that was intended to restrict ballast water discharge from large commercial ships; and to work with the Coast Guard to ensure that the national mandatory education standards they are proposing are reasonable and feasible – among numerous other issues facing the boater today.

BoatUS Board of Directors:
Richard Schwartz, Chairman
Bill Oakerson, CEO
Nancy Michelman, President
Beth Newburger, President, Epoch Communications
Wolcott “Tony” Gibbs, Jr. (NAC, see below)
Elbert “Mack” Maloney (NAC)
John Bonds (NAC)
Jim Ellis (NAC)

BoatUS National Advisory Council:
Wolcott “Tony” Gibbs Jr, Chairman, former editor of The New Yorker and Yachting
John Bonds, Former Executive Director, U.S. Sailing
Senator John Breaux, Former U.S. Senator (D-LA)

Steven M. Budar, Past National Commodore, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
Kris Carroll, President, Grady-White Boats, Inc.
Lenora Clark, President, Recreational Boaters of California
Dean Travis Clarke, Executive Editor, Sport Fishing and Marlin magazines
Doris Colgate, President, Offshore Sailing School
Representative Robert W. Davis, Former U.S. Representative (R-MI)
Jim Ellis, Former President, BoatUS
Chuck Hawley, Vice President of Product Information, West Marine
Charles Husick, Former President, Chris Craft Boat Company
Elbert “Mack” Maloney, Author, Chapman’s and Dutton’s

Ernest G. Marshburn, SN Past Chief Commander, U.S. Power Squadrons

Captain Richard Moore, PresidentNational Assoc of State Boating Law Administrators
Admiral Robert Nelson, USCG (Retired), Vice Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Richard Schwartz, BoatUS Chairman and Founder