ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 20, 2010 – As part of a nationwide effort to encourage more boaters to voluntarily wear a life jacket, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) headquarters staff in Alexandria, VA, gathered to hold an Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Day event today at 11:00 AM EDT.

One of dozens of similar events being held across the US and Canada, BoatUS crew activated their inflatable life jackets en masse  (see video here) by tugging hard on their life jackets’ manual operation lanyard, instantly inflating this important piece of safety gear.

“We wanted to show how easy inflatable life jackets are to wear and use,” said BoatUS Foundation Program Manager Ted Sensenbrenner.  “With inflatables, boaters and anglers don’t have to sacrifice comfort when trying to stay safe on the water.”

The event was sponsored by the National Safe Boating Council in partnership with the Canadian Safe Boating Council and was part of the kick-off for National Safe Boating Week, May 22-28. The organizations hope to set a world record on the number of inflatable life jackets activated. National sponsor Cabela’s also held events at their stores and Leland, Ltd. donated CO₂ cartridges to help boaters practice re-arming techniques.

For more information, go to  www.ReadySetInflate.com.  If you’d like to learn more about inflatable life jackets, go to http://www.BoatUS.com/foundation/findings/floatingonair.htm.

###

About BoatUS:

BoatUS – Boat Owners Association of The United States – is the nation’s leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a million members with government representation, programs and money saving services.  For membership information visit www.BoatUS.com or call 800-395-2628.