Calling British sailors for survey on BBC Shipping Forecast

by RYA/Sail-World Cruising on 23 Nov 2013 British sailors, have you yet completed the survey about how much you listen to the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast? This Shipping Forecast has long been valued by those who sail our coastlines, especially those who do not have internet access on board. If you haven't yet completed it, don't let it get lost in the chaos of the festive season - the deadline is mid-January:

Do you listen to the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast?
The BBC is seeking your views on the Radio 4 shipping forecast.

The BBC is interested in gaining feedback about the Radio 4 shipping forecast and researching any trends amongst the listening base.

As a result it has produced 5 questions that would capture the appropriate information and would like the help of RYA members to provide the answers.

The five questions are:

What is your primary source of Maritime Safety Information (MSI)?

What other sources do you also use?

If not named above, why do you not use Radio 4 Long Wave as a source of MSI?

On a scale of 1-5, how important is Radio 4 Long Wave as a source of MSI?
(where 1=vital...5=not at all)

Do you have any comments about the Radio 4 Long Wave service?

The BBC has never attempted a survey relating to the Radio 4 Long Wave service before and would be very grateful if RYA members took the opportunity to respond. The more replies the BBC gets, then clearly the more use the survey will be.

When to respond by:

To give people plenty of time to respond the BBC is now asking for responses to be submitted by Friday 17th January.

Where to send your response:

If you do wish to take part then please reply with your answers to Chris Aldridge at the BBC: chris.aldridge@bbc.co.uk

Finally, the RYA would be interested to hear of locations around the country where reception on VHF and mobile phone signal is not possible and where the weather forecast can only normally be received on Long Wave. Email us at cruising@rya.org.uk