NEWS From BoatU.S.
Boat Owners Association of The United States
880 S. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304
BoatU.S. News Room at http://www.BoatUS.com/news/releases.asp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Scott Croft, 703-461-2864,
Date: May 24, 2007

IF A BOAT COULD TALK, WHAT WOULD IT TELL YOU?
BoatU.S. Online Consumer Database Available

For 20 years now, the BoatU.S. Consumer Protection Bureau has
maintained the only nationwide database of consumer complaints and
safety information reported by boat owners, the U.S. Coast Guard,
manufacturers, marine surveyors and marine technicians.

"Whether you are buying a boat, trying to determine if a problem on
your current boat is widespread, or just curious, we can help," said
BoatU.S. Consumer Protection Bureau Director Caroline Ajootian.

The database contains thousands of specific reports about boats,
marine engines, boating products, dealers, marinas and related boating
services as well as information about how, or whether, the companies
involved responded to each complaint. Also included are manufacturer's
defect recall notices and safety alerts published by the U.S. Coast
Guard and a selection of service bulletins issued by boat builders.

The database can be searched by boat and engine make, model, year,
hull number or serial number, or by the type of problem and they can
also register a new problem.

To increase accuracy, BoatU.S. makes every effort to collect boat make
and model information and hull and engine identification numbers.
Having this data is vital because analysis often shows that problems
are confined to specific models or a series of hull numbers.

Ajootian also cautioned, "We do not rate or evaluate boats, engines,
marine products or services, so users should not expect to find an
overall company report card. Also, boaters searching the database will
most likely find reports about larger companies simply because large
companies have more products on the water. Keep in mind that the
presence - or absence - of reports is as much a reflection on market
share, rather than the quality of a boat or lack of it."

The database is located at http://www.BoatUS.com/consumer