About The Boating Association
Originally founded in 1948 as the Trent Boating Association, the organisation evolved during the 1970s to become The Boating Association (TBA), reflecting a much broader remit and commitment to supporting boat owners throughout the East Midlands and North East. Today, we serve the waterways from Nottingham to Ripon and the many interconnected navigations that link them.
Our original focus was on improving navigation, ensuring that waterways remained accessible and enjoyable for all. Over the years, our objectives have expanded to include enhancing facilities for boaters, encouraging more people to enjoy the region’s waterways, and supporting the economic regeneration that thriving waterways bring to local communities.
We actively welcome and engage with vessel owners, skippers, crews, and anyone with an interest in cruising between Nottingham, Ripon, and beyond. Our committee members are elected from within the boating community and collectively bring experience across a wide variety of vessels and waterways.
The Boating Association is a not-for-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers. We work collaboratively with individuals, communities, navigation authorities, and organisations that share our vision of creating positive outcomes and securing a vibrant future for the waterways network from Nottingham to Ripon.
In order to help boaters plan their journeys, all of the information and content on this website is freely available, and there is no requirement to register or become a member to access it. However, subscribers are extremely important to us. A strong and growing body of supporters gives us greater influence when engaging with navigation authorities and other organisations, helping us to achieve our aims on behalf of the boating community.
If you share our vision and would like to support our work, we invite you to subscribe and receive your FREE Supporters’ Window Decal as a visible endorsement of our principles and objectives:
- Improve Navigation
- Increase Boaters’ Facilities
- Promote the East Midlands and Yorkshire waterways as a destination, encouraging more people to discover and enjoy our region’s waterways
Together, we strive to preserve, improve, and promote these waterways for current and future generations of boaters.
