Fewer sailing boats, more motorboats

There were 800 marinas with a total 138 thousand berths in the Netherlands at the end of 2006. Although the overall mooring capacity had hardly changed since 2000, the number of large marinas was one fifth higher.

Number of marinas by mooring capacity

Number of marinas by mooring capacity

Rental of marina berths stabilising

By far most (111 thousand) of the 138 thousand moorings in Dutch marinas were rented out for the whole season in 2006, mostly to Dutch boat owners. The season runs from April to October. Only one in ten berths were rented to foreigners. In 2000 a total of 110 thousand berths were rented out.

Number of sailing boats and motorboats with a permanent berth, by marina mooring capacity

Number of sailing boats and motorboats with a permanent berth, by marina mooring capacity

More motorboats and larger marinas

Unlike the total number of moorings, the composition of the fleet of pleasure craft has changed in recent years. The number of sailing boats with permanent moorings fell by 9 percent in the period 2000–2006, while the number of motorboats rose by 11 percent.

In the same period, relatively many small and medium-seized marinas went out of business. The number of larger marinas, with more than 350 berths, rose substantially on the other hand: by one fifth.

Rob Goossens