FOR RELEASE 9AM, MARCH 1, 2017 MORE

PRESS RELEASE Water Sports Foundation Creates New Paddle Responsibly Logo for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Orlando, FL February 28, 2017: The non-profit Water Sports Foundation (WSF) announced today the release

of a specialized paddle sports safety logo designed for, and approved by, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of

Boating Safety. The Coast Guard has promoted its popular Boat Responsibly logo for many years, but with

an extra emphasis on paddling safety, it became apparent that there needed to be a sister logo designed

specifically for paddle sports.

For the past five years, paddle sports popularity has grown steadily and so have boating deaths related to

paddling. In 2015, according to a U.S. Coast Guard report*, 143 paddlers lost their lives while participating

in paddle sports. The trend of increased paddle sports deaths is causing concern amongst the Coast

Guard’s Boating Safety Division and paddle sports safety organizations. This news comes during a period

that deaths from traditional power boating actually declined.

With several market-specific initiatives, the Water Sports Foundation has been actively engaged in

promoting paddle sports safety for many years. WSF enlisted two of its media providers for logo design

assistance. Jim Emmons, Non-Profit Grant Director for WSF said, “The designers at the world’s largest

paddle sports media companies are the most talented in the industry, so we went to them for assistance.

The goal was to create a simple but similar logo that's as easily recognized as the Boat Responsibly design.

We couldn't be more pleased with the outcome and finally, the paddle sports market will get the

differentiation from power boating that is deserved.” The logo will be available for anyone to use with U.S.

Contact: Jim Emmons Water Sports Foundation, Inc. Division of WSIA Phone: 407-719-8062

1713 Cottonwood Creek Lake Mary, FL 32746 www.wsia.net

WATER SPORTS FOUNDATION, INC.

WATER SPORTS FOUNDATION CREATES NEW PADDLE RESPONSIBLY LOGO FOR THE U.S. COAST GUARD PAGE 2

Coast Guard approval by downloading from the U.S. Coast Guard’s boating safety website,

www.USCGBoating.org.

Designers using donated time from both The Enthusiast Network (producers of Canoe & Kayak, SUP, and

Kayak Fish) and Rapid Media (producers of CanoeRoots, Adventure Kayak, and Kayak Angler)

collaborated to develop the new paddle specific logo. Examples of both the Boat and new Paddle

Responsibly logos are shown below.

Headquartered in Orlando, FL, the Water Sports Foundation is the non-profit educational arm of the Water

Sports Industry Association (WSIA.net). Since 2011 WSF has received U.S. Coast Guard boating and

paddling safety outreach funding through the non-profit grant program. The Sport Fish Restoration and

Boating Trust Fund administered through Congressional action provides funding for the U.S. Coast Guard’s

recreational boating safety initiatives. For more Information call WSF at 407-719-8062.

* According to the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2015 Boating Accident Report Data.