Motivations of sailing / yachting as a leisure activity

Today, recreation industry's policy makers and planners put emphasis on how people plan their leisure time and their motivations to choose activities as well as individuals' career planning. In order to add value to their lives, individuals tend to engage in activities they love in their leisure times and respond their changing needs. Sailing is one the recreational activity which is becoming more popular among leisure time activities in recent years. The purpose of this study is to determine sailors' motivations who choose sailing as a leisure time activity. The study also aims to find if there is a meaningful difference between motivation and demographics of sailors. The universe of this research is formed by sailors in sailing clubs, yacht clubs, forums, Facebook groups; also by sailing racers and sailing boat owners. The sample group of this research is comprised of 236 people (178 male, 58 female) whom we got feedback to our survey. Quantitative Research Method was used as research model. As a data collection tool, "Leisure Motivation Scale" is used that is developed by Beard and Ragheb in 1983. The findings indicate that there is seven factors, which motivate sailors, and these factors explain 66.393% of total variance. According to the results, significant differences are detected between motivation of sailors and their demographics. The findings of this study offers suggestions that can guide sailing related schools, institutions and for leisure researchers.