BoatU.S., the nation's largest recreational boat owners association, announced today its "2006 Top Ten List of Most Popular Boat Names". Housing slumps, high gas prices, stock market surges, and spinach scares made national headlines during the year, but that didn't faze recreational boaters in selecting feel-good names for their vessels. Their number one choice was Aquaholic, illustrating boater's chronic love for the waterways. The name has appeared on the Top Ten List for five consecutive years - and it's also the second time it's taken the number one slot.
Number five on this year's list, Happy Hours, has appeared on the list seven times since 1991, when the BoatU.S. Graphics and Lettering department, which makes custom boat graphics and has a database of 7,400 monikers, first started tracking boat names. All of the remaining top five, Second Wind (#2), Reel Time (#3), and Hakuna Matata (#4, which means "no worries, troubles, problems or cares" in Swahili) have appeared on the annual list at least once, as well as #10, Pura Vida (which means "pure life").
Notable newcomers that made the list for the first time include Knot Working (#6), Life is Good (#7), Plan B (#8), and Second Chance (#9). "It's interesting to see how boaters creatively express their passion for the boating lifestyle through the name of their boat," said BoatU.S. President Nancy Michelman, "And these newcomers are perfect examples," she added.
The "2006 Top Ten List of Most Popular Boat Names" is as follows:
1.) Aquaholic
2.) Second Wind
3.) Reel Time
4.) Hakuna Matata
5.) Happy Hours
6.) Knot Working
7.) Life is Good
8.) Plan B
9.) Second Chance
10.) Pura Vida
The BoatU.S. Graphics service allows boaters to easily custom design and preview boat names online - without having to pay up front - allowing for greater creativity and choices in font styles, colors and special effects. For more information, visit the online service at http://www.BoatUS.com/boatgraphic
BoatU.S. - Boat Owners Association of The United States - is the nation's leading advocate for recreational boaters providing its 670,000 members with a wide array of consumer services.
