Scotland's love affair with messing about in boats continues with more of us than ever casting off on waterways across the land, according to authoritative new research welcomed by tourism bosses.

They predict big things for aquatic activity this summer.

The Watersports Participation Survey has found that some 287,000 adults in Scotland or 6.9 per cent of the population, took to the water by way of one or more of 12 mainstream boating activities including sailing in dinghies and yachts, water skiing and canal boating.

Meanwhile those involved in other watersports activity last year, from surfing to angling and leisure sub-aqua diving, stands at over one million or 24.5 per cent of local adults.

These figures reflect a considerable rise in participation in Scotland, an increase of 2.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent from 2013 respectively, according to the consortium of leading marine bodies who conduct the survey.Some pursuits are more popular than others. With 152,000 people in Scotland taking to the water in a canoe the participation rate in canoeing north of the border at 3.6 per cent has risen above the UK average (3.1 per cent) for 2014.

Other boating activities to see a rise in local popularity are canal boating and power boating with increases of 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent from 2013 respectively.

More than 1.2 million boats are owned by households in the UK, an increase to 1,214,154 in 2012-14, from 1,163,726 in 2011-13. In Scotland 49,872 households owned one or more boats in 2014, of which at least 23,564 canoes/kayaks were owned by local residents.

Meanwhile across the UK there are also significant increases with female participation in 'any boating activity' continues a steady increase since 2010 and is now at 6.2 per cent, the joint top highest with 2007 since the study began in 2002.

Amongst those over 55 participation has been steadily increasing since 2011 and it is now at its highest volume since the survey began; the volume increase since 2002 stands at 66 per cent. For the 16-34 and 35-54 age groups, participation rates have remained fairly stable over the past six years.

There is also a breakdown of figures for the casual participants who go out on the water fewer than six times a year and the committed enthusiast who is out more often.

There has been a shift with a slight fall in 'casuals' and a corresponding rise in the proportion of 'enthusiasts' returning closer to previously seen levels at 77%.

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:

"With thousands of miles of stunning coastline, beautiful canals, rivers and lochs and hundreds of islands ready to be explored, Scotland really is the perfect destination for watersports.

"It's great to see that more people are taking to the water, especially as Scotland's sailing industry is worth an estimated £101 million a year and supports 2700 jobs across the country. In October, our VisitScotland Growth Fund supported Sail Scotland's Sailing to Success campaign with a £22,500 grant and we're hoping this will inspire even more people to get outdoors and get involved in all the many exciting and interesting water activities across every single beautiful region of Scotland. It certainly looks as though watersports are set to make a big splash in the tourism industry this summer!"

Howard Pridding, Chief Executive of British Marine Federation said: "The figures for the number of people participating in boating and watersports are encouraging but there's also plenty of room for growth. Getting out on the water is a hugely enjoyable pastime whether you're a casual participant or much more of an enthusiast, and the marine industry is in great shape to provide plenty of opportunities to enable this."

The Watersports Participation Survey is conducted annually by a consortium of leading marine bodies including British Marine Federation (BMF), RYA (Royal Yachting Association), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), British Canoeing (BC) and Marine Management Organisation (MMO).