Sea Tow Foundation™ Announces 2025 National Boating Safety Awards Winners

National Boating Safety Awards © Sea Tow Foundation

The Sea Tow Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to promoting safe boating, in collaboration with its Boating Safety Advisory Council, is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 National Boating Safety Awards. Now in its seventh year, the awards highlight exceptional safety efforts and initiatives led by the for-profit sector of the boating industry.

The 2025 National Boating Safety Awards were presented at IBEX in Tampa, FL on Wednesday, October 8. The award recipients were recognized for their inspired approaches and steadfast commitments to creating safer experiences for boaters nationwide across eight categories.

The winners of the 2025 National Boating Safety Awards include:

The Community Boating and Education Program Award is presented to a company that provides outstanding classroom, virtual, or on-water boating education, benefiting the entire boating community. This year, the award goes to Freedom Boat Club for its Expanded Member Safety Training: Virtual + On-Water Orientation Program. Within just 12 months of launch, Freedom Boat Club grew its training by 120%. Causeway Marine earned Honorable Mention for partnering with Safety First Boating School to host New Jersey's mandatory Boating Safety Certificate Courses in their showroom.

The Gear, Equipment & Accessories Manufacturer Award recognizes a company that demonstrates excellence in promoting boating safety through its products and outreach efforts. This year's winner is Garmin for its 2025 Safe Boating Campaign. Garmin utilized blogs, e-blasts, and presentations to promote safety messaging around National Safe Boating Week. Garmin also partnered with The Qualified Captain, Katie Sawyer, and Clay Cowart, reaching 1.7 million followers through social media giveaways and outreach.

The Marine Retailer Award honors a company that goes above and beyond to promote boating safety alongside the products and services it offers. This year's award goes to Strong's Marine for its Women on the Water Series. Through this program, Strong's Marine empowered women in the boating community to feel safe and confident on the water.

The award for Marine Trade Association is given to an organization that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in promoting boating safety through education, outreach, or advocacy on behalf of the industry. The award is presented to the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) for its 2025 Discover Boating Video Series, produced in partnership with Progressive Insurance. This impactful and growing video series fills critical knowledge gaps for boaters of all experience levels—covering topics such as kids on board, pre-season prep, float plans, life jackets, and sound signals. NMMA's innovative multi-channel campaign—spanning YouTube, social media, email, website features, CTV, PSAs, and boat show promotions—sets the standard for effective boating safety outreach.

The Media Outlet Award recognizes a company or organization that promotes boating safety through impactful media efforts benefiting both the boating industry and boaters themselves. This year's award goes to the Bob's No Wake Zone Boating Radio Show, celebrating 15 years on the air with more than 780 shows and 3,000 guest interviews. The featured episode, "Revival of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary at Lake of the Ozarks, MO," exemplifies the show's ongoing commitment to advancing boating safety throughout the Lake of the Ozarks region.

The PR, Marketing & Advertising Consultant or Agency Award celebrates a company that represents a for-profit boating industry entity or independently promotes boating safety through outstanding communications and outreach efforts. This year's award goes to Hammer and Nail Marketing for its "Boater Safety is Good Business" campaign. The agency consistently integrates boating safety messaging into its weekly marketing newsletters and social media content for marinas, covering vital topics such as life jacket use, sober boating, CPR training, and the importance of boating safety education.

The Social Media Influencer Award recognizes a company or individual whose creative and high-quality social media efforts advance boating safety awareness. This year's award goes to BoatClass for its Organic Social Media Safety & Instruction Video Series. With creative, beginner-friendly videos, BoatClass makes boating safety easy to understand and enjoyable to learn. By turning social media into a digital classroom, BoatClass delivers short, dynamic lessons that inspire boaters to practice safe and confident boating.

The Top Marine Manufacturer Award, the highest distinction of the Sea Tow Foundation's National Boating Safety Awards, recognizes a boat manufacturer that goes above and beyond in advancing boating safety. Honorees demonstrate true leadership by embedding safety into their products and operations while empowering customers to become more confident, responsible boaters.

Presented by Brandon Serka, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Suzuki Marine, this year's winner, Pursuit Boats, earned top honors for its groundbreaking Confidence on the Water program. In partnership with the Chapman School of Seamanship, Pursuit Boats developed a two-day course designed to educate owners on boating safety and proper vessel handling. Every new Pursuit Boat owner and up to three additional participants can take the course free of charge with the purchase of a new vessel.

Thank you to the 2025 National Boating Safety Awards Sponsors!

• Presenting Sponsor: Suzuki Marine
• Lighthouse Sponsors: Yamaha and Water Ways TV
• Beacon Sponsors: Absolute Outdoors, Boat History Report, Chubb, Freedom Boat Club, Garmin, and Northpoint Commercial Finance
• Flare Sponsors: Bob's No Wake Zone Boating Radio Show, "Let's Go Boating" Podcast, Mustang Survival, OnWrd & UpWrd, Oyster Harbor Marine, Sensar Marine, Strong's Marine, and Waterdogged Sportfishing.

For more information about this year's winners, please visit www.boatingsafety.com/awards.