Boat Show 2025

ylop said:
You are confusing the purpose of the organiser (to extract as much cash from everyone possible) and the purpose of the exhibitor (to extract enough cash from actual customers to cover the massive amount they’ve paid the organiser!). The only person who comes away from a modern boat show saying “that was definitely worthwhile, let’s do it again next year” is the organizer! Attendees often seem to grumble and exhibitors all go away and count up how much each lead cost before someone next year says “it’s important to be seen to be at the show, otherwise people would think we are struggling!”.
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Just so you're aware - the organisers of the Southampton Boat Show are NBS. Which is a wholy owned subsidiary of British Marine - the trade federation of the marine industry.

British Marine is not a profit making enterprise, any money made from the show is used to support the activities of the federation, training, lobbying, international sales missions, etc - all overseen by the board which is made up of representatives from British Marine Industry companies.

Having (admittedly a long time ago now) worked for NBS, I can assure you that extracting as much money as possible was very much not the goal. The goal of the organisers was to put on the show that the industry, through the board, told them to put on. The sums were then done and the rate card for space calculated on that basis. The goal 15 years ago when I was there was to do a bit better than break even so that the federation had money to spend.
 
flaming said:
Just so you're aware - the organisers of the Southampton Boat Show are NBS. Which is a wholy owned subsidiary of British Marine - the trade federation of the marine industry.

British Marine is not a profit making enterprise, any money made from the show is used to support the activities of the federation, training, lobbying, international sales missions, etc - all overseen by the board which is made up of representatives from British Marine Industry companies.

Having (admittedly a long time ago now) worked for NBS, I can assure you that extracting as much money as possible was very much not the goal. The goal of the organisers was to put on the show that the industry, through the board, told them to put on. The sums were then done and the rate card for space calculated on that basis. The goal 15 years ago when I was there was to do a bit better than break even so that the federation had money to spend.
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I’m aware of who organises the show. Like many such organisations they become self fulfilling prophecies - when your objective is to break even you just spend more money to justify the costs, and the money is often spent reinforcing the echo chamber that a bigger, shinier, show is what is needed or more staff (who inevitably have a vested interest in their own jobs).

My disdain for trade shows in not unique to boat shows - it extends across multiple sectors often organised by a supposedly representative trade body, but actually is made up of industry worthies who have some interest in trying to keep their industry the way it has been for decades. If anyone in the industry really wanted to challenge the model they might ask if rather than spend the budget they have on one show if they could achieve more with a genuinely innovative approach.
 
Lucky Duck said:
Does the PBO/YM/YW stand (assuming there is one) still offer free drinks to forum members?

Edit - x yachts are mentioned up thread, the last time I viewed one of their boats sitting down on any of saloon seats or berths of expressly forbidden by many signs displayed onboard.
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The have not had drinks since 2014
 
Lucky Duck said:
Does the PBO/YM/YW stand (assuming there is one) still offer free drinks to forum members?
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No, but plenty of free beer, wine & crisps on the Boatfolk stand for all.

Free rum based drinks on the Sunsail stand and "Happy Hour" on the Cruising Assoc stand at 4.30pm every day.

And four free drinks at the HarBar if you are an MDL customer inc wine, prosecco and beer.
 
wonkywinch said:
No, but plenty of free beer, wine & crisps on the Boatfolk stand for all.

Free rum based drinks on the Sunsail stand and "Happy Hour" on the Cruising Assoc stand at 4.30pm every day.

And four free drinks at the HarBar if you are an MDL customer inc wine, prosecco and beer.
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They don’t even have a stand there any more. ( IPC / Time Inc etc)
 
ylop said:
You are confusing the purpose of the organiser (to extract as much cash from everyone possible) and the purpose of the exhibitor (to extract enough cash from actual customers to cover the massive amount they’ve paid the organiser!). The only person who comes away from a modern boat show saying “that was definitely worthwhile, let’s do it again next year” is the organizer! Attendees often seem to grumble and exhibitors all go away and count up how much each lead cost before someone next year says “it’s important to be seen to be at the show, otherwise people would think we are struggling!”.
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No confusion, just disagreement.

Reasons for exhibiting are considerably more complex and varied than you suggest.

I have never been refused access to a boat at a show, from the smallest, to the largest gin palace. If there was I would ask for my ticket money back on the grounds of miss-selling. Even expensive yachts to dream for are generally courteous, often chatty. Even if they don't sell their craft on show, they are selling their brand, or asking for feedback on what you see. A representative that lets down that brand does it no justice, and in the modern era of immediate internet information could immediately put off others. It is not worth the risk.
 
Pye_End said:
No confusion, just disagreement.

Reasons for exhibiting are considerably more complex and varied than you suggest.

I have never been refused access to a boat at a show, from the smallest, to the largest gin palace. If there was I would ask for my ticket money back on the grounds of miss-selling. Even expensive yachts to dream for are generally courteous, often chatty. Even if they don't sell their craft on show, they are selling their brand, or asking for feedback on what you see. A representative that lets down that brand does it no justice, and in the modern era of immediate internet information could immediately put off others. It is not worth the risk.
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You would think so, yet it happens. I’ve already said my piece, I won’t labour the point. We enjoyed the show this year, nobody was rude to us. Just got our survey and free ticket offer. It’s crane out day for the XOD fleet, so I can’t go. If anyone is keen, I’ll do the survey and get them.
 
Had an enjoyable day at SIBS today. Crawled over so many boats that they have slightly blended into one, all under the benevolent gaze of friendly and generally knowledgeable staff - one young man admitted he knew nothing having just been taken on for the show, but was nevertheless cheerful and pleasant about it.

Some of the exhibitors inside the main marquee seemed intent on avoiding eye contact with punters whilst yarning with their mates. They’ll probably go bust quite quickly and deservedly.

I did get asked to leave a stand after pointing out to the sales guy that he was wasting my time trying to give me an exact quote for re-rigging a yacht that I haven’t bought and just wanted a ballpark figure for. Again, I’m sure I can spend £30-50k elsewhere so any financial woes he might experience won’t be my problem,

All in all a cracking day out. Who knows what it might lead to.
 
benjenbav said:
I did get asked to leave a stand after pointing out to the sales guy that he was wasting my time trying to give me an exact quote for re-rigging a yacht that I haven’t bought
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I got an exact quote for both sails and rigging for a boat I had not bought last year. Not so unusual given most of the cost is time and the materials are always within a ballpark for a given size boat.
Anyone telling you they have to measure to quote is lying in order to get you on the hook.
 
lustyd said:
I got an exact quote for both sails and rigging for a boat I had not bought last year. Not so unusual given most of the cost is time and the materials are always within a ballpark for a given size boat.
Anyone telling you they have to measure to quote is lying in order to get you on the hook.
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Indeed. I said from the get go that I wanted a ballpark for rerigging a hypothetical 35ft cruiser with in-mast or in-boom furling. Would I be spending £10k/£20k/£50k or whatever? In response he opened up his laptop and asked me for name, address, boat type, location, reason for wanting to do this and inside leg measurement.

That was when I decided he was wasting my time and he decided to ask me to leave his little bit of carpet.

Hey ho. One brand very easily crossed off the list.
 
Well, just got home from the show.
Arrived at 11am and stayed until 5:30pm. Had a cracking time, going in the week is definitely the way forward.
Spent a good percentage of the day visiting the many boats on display, had no issues getting on the big stuff including the Halberg-Rassy 69,
Moody DS48, Nauticat, to name a few, even got onboard the Sunseeker 90 Ocean. The Hanse 360 was impressive, the rep was incredibly proud of the boat spent ages talking to us about it.
The vendors in the halls I spoke to were happy to talk and I got some great quotes for kit. Very relaxed atmosphere.

The show is more compact than before but much off the random items, like dog food, were not to be seen. There’s still a few of those stands but it did feel more like a boat show and not a country fair. Saying this, first time I’ve ever seen an aircraft at the show, apparently they did sell one.

Roll on next year!
 
benjenbav said:
Indeed. I said from the get go that I wanted a ballpark for rerigging a hypothetical 35ft cruiser with in-mast or in-boom furling. Would I be spending £10k/£20k/£50k or whatever? In response he opened up his laptop and asked me for name, address, boat type, location, reason for wanting to do this and inside leg measurement.

That was when I decided he was wasting my time and he decided to ask me to leave his little bit of carpet.

Hey ho. One brand very easily crossed off the list.
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He sounds like the type of person that convinced me not to drive and attend the show perhaps 25 or more years ago.
 
Gixer said:
Well, just got home from the show.
Arrived at 11am and stayed until 5:30pm. Had a cracking time, going in the week is definitely the way forward.
Spent a good percentage of the day visiting the many boats on display, had no issues getting on the big stuff including the Halberg-Rassy 69,
Moody DS48, Nauticat, to name a few, even got onboard the Sunseeker 90 Ocean. The Hanse 360 was impressive, the rep was incredibly proud of the boat spent ages talking to us about it.
The vendors in the halls I spoke to were happy to talk and I got some great quotes for kit. Very relaxed atmosphere.

The show is more compact than before but much off the random items, like dog food, were not to be seen. There’s still a few of those stands but it did feel more like a boat show and not a country fair. Saying this, first time I’ve ever seen an aircraft at the show, apparently they did sell one.

Roll on next year!
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Glad it was good for you.

Perhaps things have improved since my last visit.
 
Made another visit today, and I'm both pleased and relieved in equal measure.

I enjoyed speaking with more really interesting people - including the three 'wee lassies' at the RN stand, two trainee Comms Techs and another who worked on helos and 'kept the Royal Marines in line'. All three bright as buttons....:)
Then there was banter flowing fast and furious at the Coastguard stand, and even an interesting exchange with our busy Border Guardians and their 'sniffy dawg'.
Even the West System techie lady made a good stab at 'how to' solutions for my epoxy-bonding conundrums.

The relief came from managing to escape without a bout of 'angina of the wallet'. As always, bright new 'boat bling' kit on the Harken and Antal displays had me fingering my debit card feverishly, but I resisted temptation. I also just managed to tear myself away from downing a deposit on a large garden shed-thing my other half was coveting.

That was probably my cheapest-ever So'ton BS sortie; it may well be the last.

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My new Harken traveler set up arrived today via retailer Jimmy Green, making my trip to the show worthwhile.

I discussed at length the options with the Harken rep and then ordered it via the JGM stand opposite.

I assembled it in my garage last night prior to fitting and think it’s perfect, payback for the cost and effort of attending.

My mate had his new to him X-Yachts XP55 at the show about 10 years ago (I believe part of the deal buying it) and he obviously has extreme level OCD when it comes to the boat.

I had a shower on it once and spent about 1/2 an hour afterwards removing every drop of water from every surface and drying everything thoroughly to keep him happy.

I’d imagine the ‘DO NOT SIT ON THE UPHOLSTERY!’signs were his!
 
I had a great day there today. Chatted sails with Kemp and got a quote, chatted bow thrusters and fuel tanks with Vetus and got prices, chatted PLBs and electronic flares with Wescom, chatted cleaning products and electrical components and induction cookers and davit parts, picked up a spare alternator belt, saw the parachute display, got on a posh narrowboat, got on a Nauticat (I think) that visited every harbourmaster in the Isles, got a signed copy of Tom Cunliffe’s new novel, joined the Cruising Association, chatted autopilots and radios and wind instruments with Raymarine and got prices (gadzooks). Didn’t have a pasty though.
 
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Chiara’s slave said:
Not being allowed on boats has always been a thing. It’s just a surprise when it happens to you on a boat you’d like to see. They can usually find a decent excuse to let you down gently. Spirit Yachts just told me not to waste their time a few years back. I have since then always tried my best to comply with their wishes.
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Funnily enough, a good number of years ago we were looking to buy a new yacht and we had the money to do so, so we went to the show.

Many exhibitors were happy to let us look around their yachts (and we did buy one) but Southerly looked down their noses at us, assumed that we were tyre kickers and told us that they weren’t able to let us onto their nice, clean, EMPTY yacht.

Suffice to say, it wasn’t a Southerly that we bought nor would we EVER consider one again. Maybe cutting off our noses to spite our faces but we have been very pleased with our purchase 17 years on so perhaps they did us a favour…
 
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