Americans Prepare for Premier 'Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Inflation Day'

BRISTOW, Va., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 20, 2010 at 11:00 AM EDT / 8:00 AM PDT, the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC), in partnership with the Canadian Safe Boating Council (CSBC) invites boating safety professionals, the boating community, and the media to participate in this year's "Inflatable Life Jacket World Record Inflation Day!"  Throughout North America, participants will simultaneously inflate their life jackets to set an unprecedented world record.

This World Record Day will help to usher in National Safe Boating Week, this year May 22 – 28, 2010.  The goal of National Safe Boating Week is to educate and inform the boating public about boating safety, specifically life jackets.  The push of inflatable life jackets has been the main focus of the campaign for the past few years.

To ensure that this event is a success, the NSBC and CSBC have been working with local sponsors and partners in the area.  In the USA, boating safety educators and organizations are being asked to hold local inflation events in their area.  Cabela's® is the national sponsor in America, offering its stores across the county as event locations.  Leland, Ltd. has worked with the NSBC to offer over 1,000 CO2 cartridges to allow participants the opportunity to inflate their life jacket, but also practice re-arming techniques of inflatable life jackets.  SmartBoater is helping to sponsor the event throughout Canada, bringing this important message to boaters throughout the country.

"We're thrilled to be working with the Canadian Safe Boating Council on such a worth-while, educational endeavor," remarks Virgil Chambers, Executive Director of the NSBC.  "This World Record Event will not only help to educate boaters about inflatable life jackets, but will help to mirror the overall goals and vision of the North American Safe Boating Campaign."

In preparation for this year's event, a Web site has been created to address questions and concerns surrounding this day.  People interested in organizing an event can use the site to list their event location, the media can go to a special section to get footage and materials, and other visitors can locate an event in their area and receive general information.  Furthermore, to get a good count from each location, all organizers are asked to record their event through photograph or video as well as a sign-up sheet.  When all the numbers have been tallied, they will be posted to the Web site.  The Web site address for both USA and Canada is www.ReadySetInflate.com.

"The Canadian Safe Boating Council and our counterparts are excited to embark on the future of safe boating with this event," comments Bob Minielly, Chair of the Canadian Safe Boating Council.  "It's exciting to be involved in such an educational and fun activity!"

The National Safe Boating Council and the Canadian Safe Boating Council hope to not only set a fantastic world record, but educate the boating public about the comfort and accessibility of inflatable life jackets.  The North American Safe Boating Campaign focuses on this goal all year round, but relies on events like this and National Safe Boating Week to bring more awareness to this life-saving cause.  For more information, please visit www.ReadySetInflate.com or www.SafeBoatingCampaign.com.

SOURCE National Safe Boating Council