The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom says Finland continues to rank among the countries with the most boats per capita. During the first half of the year, the number of first registrations of watercraft increased by 11 per cent compared to the year before. Motorboats are still the most common type of watercraft, but personal watercraft (‘jet skis’) are also becoming increasingly popular. The highest number of boats were registered in the regions of Uusimaa and Southwest Finland.
Between January and June 2019, a total of 2,857 watercraft were registered for the first time. This constitutes an increase of 11.1 per cent year-on-year. The registration obligation concerns watercraft that are at least 5.5 metres long and equipped with a sail or engine as well as watercraft with engine power of at least 15 kW (approx. 20.4 hp).
“Finland continues to rank among the countries with the most boats per capita. The long and sunny boating season we enjoyed last year is likely one of the factors driving the growth in registration volumes this year, too. The number of first registrations of new sailboats has remained very low for quite some time, but now we are seeing positive development in those figures as well,” says Ville Räisänen, head of unit at Traficom.
Motorboats were clearly the most common type of watercraft registered during the first half of 2019, with 2,012 registrations. Compared to the year before, there was an increase of 8.5 per cent. Of all new boats, more than 70 per cent were motorboats.
As in previous years, personal watercraft remained popular: 757 watercraft were registered in the first half of the the year, which is an increase of 17.5 per cent compared to the year before.