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More than half the population has visited the coast in the past month over the Christmas and New Year period according to a new survey by the Collins Stewart London Boat Show, confirming this country's historic love affair with the sea is still going strong.

Despite the cold weather and strong winds of the past few weeks, 54% have visited a costal area at least once and almost all (95%) have done so in the past six months.

The island of Great Britain has 11,072.76 miles of coast and the new survey shows that we put it to good use: 97% of Brits enjoy being by the coast Nearly half of us (45%) consider playing on a beach as a child one of our happiest memories There are around 200 million day trips to the coast each year - which works out at more than three visits to the coast for every person in the UK There are, on average, 25 million holidays to the coast in Britain every year Speaking about the survey results, James Gower, Director of Marketing for the Collins Stewart London Boat Show said: "Given our status as an island nation it is not surprising that the coast has a special place in our hearts. Few would have predicted however, that our identity with the sea and coast would be as strong as the survey shows.

"As environmental concerns about the effects of flying increase, more and more people are likely to flock to rivers, beaches and the seaside to enjoy costal holidays and waterside retreats. In a few years' time we should not be surprised if Britain's affinity with her coastline is even stronger."

The Collins Stewart London Boat Show kicked off at ExCeL London on January 5 and will last until January 14. For the first time, the Show is sporting a special Island Nation theme, celebrating our costal heritage. Visitors to the Show will find it bursting with new and exciting things to see and do and will have the opportunity to learn how to hoist a sail, anchor a boat and get tips of the trade from some of the most accomplished personalities in the boating world.

Other island nation facts about the coast include: The furthest point from the sea in the UK is the village of Coton in the Elms, which is 70 miles (113 km) away Around 60% of our coastline is located in Scotland and the off-shore islands The UK is made up of over 1000 islands - which add up to a lot of coastline. Around 790 of these islands are located off-shore from Scotland 95% of UK's imports and exports are transported by sea Around 50m people travel to, from and around Britain by ferry each year There are 54 major rivers in England, Scotland and Wales combined The longest river in Britain is the River Severn and is 220 miles (354km) long and flows through Shrewsbury, Worcester and Gloucester in England to the Bristol Channel

1:31pm Wednesday 10th January 2007

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