Boat Launch

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Boat Launching, Boat Launch Ramp, Slipway, Boat Deployer

Category

Transportation, Facilities, Tourism

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of a boat launching area

	Source	Description
*)	Parks Canada	Side view of a motor boat, two wheels with bar, solid triangle, wavy line below
	Argentina SSTN	Side view of a motor boat, wheel with bar, solid triangle, two wavy lines
	NZS 8603	Side view of a motor boat, wheel with bar, solid triangle, two wavy lines
	TAC	Side view of a motor boat, wheel with bar, solid triangle, wavy line
	Pierce	Side view of a motor boat on hanger, solid triangle with wavy contour at bottom
	U.S. National Park Service	Side view of a motor boat on hanger, solid triangle with wavy contour at bottom
	SADC	Side view of a motor boat, wheel with bar, solid triangle, wavy line
	BS 8501:2002	Sailing boat with sails set, wheel with bar, solid triangle, two wavy lines
	Nova Scotia	Side view of motor boat, wheel at bottom, tilted bar indicating ramp, three wavy lines below
	Ecuador	Side view of a motor boat, wheel with bar, lines indicating ramp, two wavy lines
	UKFC	Side view of a sailing boat, wheel at bottom, solid triangle below
	Ordnance Survey	Side view of a sailing boat, wheel at bottom, solid triangle below
	BTA 1989	Side view of a boat, wheel at bottom, solid triangle below

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

As a look at the table above shows, all pictograms in this collection are based on a side view of some sort of boat with at least one wheel below and an element indicating the ramp or slipway. While most variants also display water in some way, a few omit this element and still seem to be comprehensible.

Besides the variants shown here, additional signs exist to warn of a boat launching slipway, as for example the registered safety sign Reference No W044: Warning; Slipway from ISO 7010. In this case the graphic symbol shown inside the triangle is identical to BS 8501 Public Information Symbol No 9082: Slipway.

In our research we discovered that there is only very limited test data available, but since the image contents of the pictograms available do not vary to a large degree and regarding the good results, this still might be sufficient:

Evaluating the Parks Canada’s National Park and National Historic Sites symbols, also guidance and information symbols were examined using a Comprehension Test according to ISO 9186. For pictogram No 6-4-217: Boat Launch, labeled Parks Canada and marked with *) in the table above, 95 % of the responses were classified as acceptable, a score that can be considered as almost perfect (Ipsos-Reid Corporation, 2003, page 43).

Recommendations

Pierce, T. (1996): The International Pictograms Standard, page 134: Pictogram Boat Launch, Lanchas

Regarding the test results available we expect variants showing a side view of a hanger with boat on a ramp and water at the bottom to be well comprehensible. Therefore we recommend using a pictogram similar to this example pictogram from Pierce (1996): The International Pictograms Standard, page 134.

In the long term it would make sense to develop improved variants and to examine on basis of tests, if a specific kind of rendering has advantages concerning comprehensibility and legibility/visibility.

Tests of pictograms of referent Boat Launch

Ipsos-Reid Corporation (2003): Evaluation of Parks Canada’s National Park and National Historic Sites Symbols – Phase I.