lustyd
Well-Known Member
I’m surprised anyone ever tries to order a Southerly, they’ve rarely been in business long enough to deliver a boat!
Boat Show 2025
- Thread starter Dunx
- Start date
dslittle
Well-Known Member
lustyd
Well-Known Member
I don’t think a lack of orders was the issue in that case.
LiftyK
Well-Known Member
I visited the show today. Despite the reduced size and rain, I still enjoyed my visit and came away with some bits and pieces.
Snowgoose-1
Well-Known Member
Pleased that you enoyed it.
The march of technology is leaving many things by the wayside. It doesn't look as if it's going to stop in our lifetimes. Some are opting out though like the Ben Fogle TV series. Perhaps sell up and sail will gain in popularity.
lustyd
Well-Known Member
It already has, YouTube is the most popular TV service in the UK and sailing channels are some of the biggest channels.
capnsensible
Well-Known Member
It will be a bit different to the first one I went to in 1976. I could barely afford the entrance fee let alone a boat, but the seeds were sewn!
wonkywinch
Well-Known Member
I think you were stitched up
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capnsensible
Well-Known Member
Bus to Fareham, train to Southampton, long walk in the rain, still like boats.I think you were stitched up
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Threaded your way through the crowds
Little Tern
Member
Stop needling him - I think he's got the point now
newtothis
Well-Known Member
You reap what you sew.
potentillaCO32
Well-Known Member
I have unusually been to the la rochelle boat show and sbs this year with a few days of each other.
The contrast between the two is incredible and just reinforces that the UK sailing boat market doesn't really exist anymore.
At la rochelle it is heartening to see that the small high quality 'day boat' sector seems to be exploding. (As i saw it most being 6.5 - 8ish m long, fast and a cuddy for shelter) I counted about 8 different makes being displayed with a few launches at the boat show. Most available for test sails booked after 18.00.
Toby from yachting world tested a few of these on youtube from la rochelle last week. A great display from most of the bigger manufacturers and also the many who don't bother selling to the UK anymore.
Sad but i guess sailing's decline in the uk was driven by the alternative hobbies for young people today, the miserable climate etc.
The contrast between the two is incredible and just reinforces that the UK sailing boat market doesn't really exist anymore.
At la rochelle it is heartening to see that the small high quality 'day boat' sector seems to be exploding. (As i saw it most being 6.5 - 8ish m long, fast and a cuddy for shelter) I counted about 8 different makes being displayed with a few launches at the boat show. Most available for test sails booked after 18.00.
Toby from yachting world tested a few of these on youtube from la rochelle last week. A great display from most of the bigger manufacturers and also the many who don't bother selling to the UK anymore.
Sad but i guess sailing's decline in the uk was driven by the alternative hobbies for young people today, the miserable climate etc.
newtothis
Well-Known Member
Don't discount a smaller coastline where the majority of parking spaces have been bought up by corporate marinas that make the running costs prohibitively high.
LiftyK
Well-Known Member
Spot on. The majority of boats displayed were so very expensive. Very few were affordable to me and made me appreciate my own boat all the more.
lustyd
Well-Known Member
Add to that club racing obsessed with very few specific boats in that size range and it’s hard to imagine buying something different and being able to afford to keep it. If the money is there, I think most in the UK will opt for bigger more comfortable boats as shown at the show.
Most parking in France seems to be free outside of cities and they don’t seem to have as much marina/mooring space reserved for clubs.
dunedin
Well-Known Member
What "smaller coastline"?
The UK probably has more coastline than France #, though our population is much more concentrated in one corner.
# There is of course in theory no definitive measure of coastline
WoodyP
Well-Known Member
You're right. I had to Google that and there is a very significant difference if you measure the islands as well.
Great Britain:
Total Coastline:
31,368 km (19,491 miles).
Mainland Coastline:
Approximately 17,819 km (11,073 miles).
Factors:
The significant length includes the coastlines of numerous islands within Great Britain, like those of Scotland and the islands of England and Wales.
France:
Coastline:
4,853 km (3,015 miles).
Factors:
France has a much more geometrically efficient, compact mainland shape with fewer external islands, resulting in a shorter total coastline.
laika
Well-Known Member
While market conditions are undoubtedly different between the uk and France (sailing is perceived as less elitist there and they have more manufacturers of affordable boats) let’s not forget that they haven’t run the salon nautique in Paris for a couple of years due to falling attendance. It’s on in a new location this year with expectations of lower numbers.
potentillaCO32
Well-Known Member
Clearly sailing participation has reduced everywhere but france still has a vibrant sailing industry with dozens of yacht types that nobody in the uk has heard of.
Walking round my marina there and it is full of new boats.
My main point is that the uk market for yachts started it's decline around 25 ywars ago and is now dead, in my view, certainly outside the solent.
Walking along the crouch sea wall this weekend you ciuld barely see a yacht's sails. Talking to local brokers, as im trying to sell my old boat, and they were comparing the market to Cleese's parrot.
You see it in this forum. It was oldish when i started using it in the '00s, now it is positively geriatric for the remaing users.