Livonia, MI October 6, 2011  – Michigan has moved to third place in overall boating registrations among the fifty states, with 812,066 registered in 2010 according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. The number of Michigan registrations from the previous year stayed relatively flat, increasing less than 1 percent, however Michigan moved up one place from number four in 2009.

The data, calculated and released by the U.S. Coast Guard, reports 12.5 million recreational boats were registered in the United States in 2010. 183,930 of the total registered boats were new model-year powerboats sold and registered in the United States.

“Registration data between states is not consistent and therefore we also look to Michigan’s Secretary of State for registration numbers, which shows 959,869 registered boats on file,” said John Ropp, president of Michigan Boating Industries Association. “If we count Michigan’s 300,000 legally unregistered boats we are actually number one in the United States.”

Boating is a $3.9 billion industry in Michigan, with 1,300 public access sites and more than 1,000 marinas. Michigan has more than 3,300 miles of shoreline and 11,000 inland lakes; you are never further than 6 miles from a lake or stream.

“We are happy to see the number of registrations in Michigan and state ranking increase, recreational boating is a large industry in Michigan and positive news is good news for the entire Michigan economy,” said Ropp.

Florida and Minnesota rank above Michigan with 914,535 and 813,976 registrants respectively. California is below Michigan at number four with 810,066 registered boats.