The organisers of the 39th Southampton Boat Show, which ended on Sunday, have claimed a major success. The show had a 10 day run and approximately 127,000 visitors attended. This was a 8% increase over last year. There were record visitors on press and preview day and one of the largest attended second Saturdays in recent years, with visitors enjoying 600 exhibitors and over 370 boats afloat at the Hydropool Marina.

Alan Morgan, Chairman of National Boat Shows, commented: “The success of this year’s Show demonstrates a positive feeling in the industry. The exhibits are essentially the stars of the Show, and we’ve had some truly amazing products on show this year; from a canoe worth £200 right up to the £11m Tri-deck Sunseeker yacht. “We’re really looking forward to the 40th anniversary of the Southampton Boat Show next year. Not only have we secured a title sponsor, PSP, for 2008 but we are also delighted to be continuing our partnership with ITV Meridian who have agreed a 3-year extension, pledging their commitment to the continued success of the Show.”

Opened by Sir Keith Mills and Mike Sanderson of TEAMORIGIN on Friday 14th, the Show has played host to such names as HRH The Princess Royal, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Ben Ainslie, Mike Golding OBE, Dee Caffari, Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, Nigel Mansell, Alan Titchmarsh, Simon Gregson and Sue Cleaver.

Highlights of the Show include the exclusive TEAMORIGIN announcement on press and preview day; the exciting collection of feature boats visiting the Show; and the celebration of the 2008 Beijing Games with the Show’s Chinese Quarter. There was something for everyone at the Show, from Goodyear’s HydraZorbing through to Try-a-Boat and OnBoard’s Try Sailing. HMS Bounty proved to be a popular attraction with around 40,000 visitors exploring the boat.

Throughout the Show, the British Marine Federation (BMF) has been working hard behind the scenes for the benefit of the industry. The most notable successes include the visit of Lord Drayson; the Government Minister with responsibility for the marine industry; the staging at the Show of the first board meeting of the Association of Marina Industries outside the US; and the free seminars relating to the Sale of Goods Act. The BMF also used the occasion to network with its members and hosted a successful reception for 200 people, as well as signing up 20 new members.

Hospitality at the Show this year, sponsored by Jersey, was alive with national and local corporate clients, all enjoying fantastic views of the Show from their lounges, together with fine wines and dining. Over 600 hospitality guests were welcomed this year, including groups from Goodyear, Clydesdale Bank and Norwich Union. Andrew Williams, Managing Director of National Boat Shows summed up the spirit of the Show by thanking exhibitors, staff and all those connected with the Show: “This has been an amazing Show for many exhibitors, visitors and for all of the team at NBS and BMF that have worked so hard to stage this exciting event. I want to thank everyone for all of their hard work especially those exhibitors and sponsors who helped promote and drive the phenomenal increase in attendance through their websites, issuing 40% more trade tickets (through the ‘pay on redemption’ system) and becoming ticket sales channels.

“We have over achieved in all four of our success criteria: the quality products and bustling exciting ambience has produced an industry showcase of which we can all be proud and this has given us a huge increase in visitor numbers and some encouragingly high levels of commercial success.

“Our strategy of working closely with our partners in the Show has certainly worked well and we want this to continue into promotion of the industry’s own show in London, the Collins Stewart London Boat Show at ExCel in January 08.”

Many exhibitors reported good sales throughout the Show and were pleased with the number of visitors making purchases.

The success of this year’s Southampton Boat Show has been confirmed across the whole Show with many smaller boat retailers reporting record sales. Bray Marine has reported a terrific Show and Dominic Smulders said “It’s been quite a landmark show for us with not only sales exceeding our objectives, but we are particularly pleased with how this show promotes our industry. It’s a real gem which is extremely well polished and is an excellent example of how we should be represented.”

Managing Director of Fairline Boats Ltd, Derek Carter, said: “We have had yet another outstanding Show at Southampton, working with the BMF and National Boat Shows. Sales have exceeded objectives and the number of generated leads indicates there is more to come. We at Fairline certainly see this Show in the premier league of on-water shows across the World. We thank NBS for their enhanced communications, promotion of the Show and partnership concept which should translate into a fantastic Collins Stewart London Boat Show at ExCeL.”

Lombard Marine Finance reported a healthy show. Ian Braham, Head of Marine Finance, reported that in business terms, this show was interesting because the demand for financing between powerboats and sailboats was almost evenly matched. “In previous years we’ve seen a swing towards more enquiries for the powerboat sector,” he said, “often as high as 70-30. However this year our enquiries are 50-50. The average advance is in the region of £115,000, which means the average spend on a vessel is around £180,000. This reflects the show trends that the higher end vessels are continuing to be popular.”

Sunseeker’s Managing Director Robert Braithwaite commented: “The show continues to get better and better. It is a hugely important and successful worldwide show. Sunseeker has done very well this year and we are looking forward to the Collins Stewart London Boat Show at ExCeL and the exclusive global launch of our new 34m yacht.”

Julian Gowing MD of Premier Yacht Sales said: “This year has been fantastic, with 21 Elan sailboats sold at the Show compared to six sold last year. We’ve experienced very strong sales and have been more active than before with customers contracting at the Show.”

Adrian Hart, UK Sales Manager of Laser, has reported a massive interest this year. “We have been introducing an enormous amount of people into boating through the Show, which has been really successful for us, and will be delivering that interest through our facilities. We will be taking 65 families new to boating out sailing in October through leads which we have generated at the Show.”

John Roberjot, Director of Hydropool and sponsor of Southampton Boat Show’s Marina, said: “This has been a terrific Show for Hydropool, both in terms of sales and promotion of our company through our sponsorship. It started well from day one and the last Saturday of the Show saw us sell more spas in one day than at any other Show.”

Press information is compliments of the organisers. Photos are copyright of OnEdition. Please click the photos for details.