May 2, 2023

BoatUS Foundation President and National Safe Boating Council’s newest Boating Safety Hall of Fame member, Chris Edmonston.

Making boating safety education more accessible by bringing courses online, growing the availability of on-water training programs, and developing national on-water boating safety standards are just some of the accomplishments cited when Chris Edmonston, president of the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, was inducted into the prestigious Boating Safety Hall of Fame. The honor recognizes individuals who have made, or continue to generate, substantial and lasting contributions toward the advancement of recreational boating safety.

Edmonston was feted during the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC)’s annual gathering April 16 for his relentless push over a 25-year career to make waterways safer for all. He helped lead the nation’s foremost membership-based boating safety organization in its efforts to create an on-water boat control training courses that “teach the teachers” and grow the ranks of NSBC-certified instructors that follow a national, uniform on-water skills training course standard.

“Chris has made boating safety education more accessible for thousands of America’s boaters,” said Robert Newsome, NSBC chair. “We are grateful for his leadership.”

“NSBC wouldn’t be where it is today without the efforts of Chris Edmonston,” said NSBC executive director Peg Phillips. “His work not only further equipped the council to educate and train safe boaters but also advanced the work of the industry as a whole.”

“I am humbled to receive this honor, said Edmonston. “I just love boating and want to get people on the water safely. I’ve always focused my efforts on growing our boating safety community, and I look at this honor as a much as a partnership award with all the groups BoatUS has worked with over the years. We have a special community, and I’ve always felt that the way to have the biggest impact is to work together in a way that ensures everyone’s success in making America’s waterways safer.”

Some previous NSBC Hall of Fame inductees have included BoatUS and BoatUS Foundation presidents, state wildlife agency staffers, national boating organization and industry leaders and former members of Congress.