America’s Boating Club: Safety First

The United States Power Squadrons (USPS) was at a crossroads.

It had an identity problem. While many had heard of the 110-year-old group, market research in 2022 revealed that a lot of people had no idea what exactly USPS is and does, says Director of Marketing Tammy Brown. That led to a further study that resulted in a recent name shift and logo change to become America’s Boating Club, though the U.S. Power Squadrons remains as the legal entity and continues to be part of what Brown describes as dual branding.
“When people say, ‘Who are you with?’ we say ‘America’s Boating Club/United States Power Squadrons,’” Brown explains. “When you see us at an event, you’ll normally see both names in the same place It’s a lot to say… but it connects together and there’s a memory there [that] ‘They’re the people that teach boating instruction across the country.’”

The U.S. Power Squadrons was originally formed as a recreational boating organization in 1914 when representatives of multiple yacht clubs came together at the New York Yacht Club to establish this national group that was as much about camaraderie as recreational boating safety. Over time, the USPS took on various roles from supporting war efforts to providing boater education — the latter being a key and expanding function today.

Right now, America’s Boating Club/U.S. Power Squadrons has about 20,000 members representing some 350 chapters (squadrons) across the U.S. That’s down from 25,000 a few years ago.

“Just like every organization that is membership-based, our trend is downward flowing,” Brown says. While boat ownership grew as the ultimate in social distancing during COVID, people have been returning to their pre-pandemic pastimes, she notes. Statistics from the U.S. Coast Guard show that in 2022 there were 11,770,383 registered recreational vessels across the United States — that’s a 1.6% decrease from the previous year.

The goal now is to reverse the membership decline. To appeal to new members from all sectors of the boating public (including motorized, nonmotorized and human-powered craft like kayaks and canoes) the organization is working on building awareness of the fellowship, education and safety services that have attracted generations of families.

“When we started, we were known for larger vessels, 40 feet and up,” Brown says. “Now our focus is really on recruiting that 35- to 55-year-old member [whose] boats are trailered because that’s where most of the boating population is, especially the new boaters. They’re trailering their boats to the lakes and getting back out of the water and trailering home. That’s where we kind of laser-focus our membership recruitment.”
People are also buying smaller boats. Throw in anglers, who Brown says “don’t really consider themselves boaters” and there’s another market to tap.

Raised in the Club

The 2024 president of America’s Boating Club/ United States Power Squadrons, Ralph Bernard, has had a lifelong association with the organization. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, his dad came home and bought a surplus barge that had been used to transport admirals ashore during the war. His father joined the club in the 1960s, though his mother had to wait until women became eligible for membership in 1982.

Living in New Jersey, the family’s recreational life very much revolved around boating. That was the case whether they were cruising on the Chesapeake Bay or the Great Egg Harbor River where Bernard, now a retired state trooper, still lives. His family participated in multiple club events. They even went to the 1964 World’s Fair by boat from their home in South Jersey.

“It was always if mom and dad went, we went too, until we went off to college,” Bernard says. “We were as involved as they were. We did the work, we cleaned up, prepared for social events and we took courses.”

Bernard was 12 when he completed a 10-week USPS boating safety course.

“I had no idea how to chart a course or what dead reckoning is,” he says. “It made me a whole lot more confident.”

Upon returning from serving in the U.S. Air Force in 1979, Bernard joined USPS.

“You became part of the organization — either teaching courses or taking courses, participating in social events,” he says. “We were very involved all the time.”
Both of his grown daughters are now boat owners and members. Two grandsons, ages 19 and 20, are also members and capable boaters who have earned their first “merit marks” for service to the organization. Bernard also has two granddaughters — one’s too young to be a member yet, but he knows she will when the time comes.