Boatlife 2025 has been cancelled.
- Thread starter Concerto
- Start date
Bobc
Well-known member
Shows are all dead. Some just haven't worked it out yet.
Sandy
Well-known member
It took them a while to come to that conclusion. I said at the very beginning it would never work.
Southampton struggles and that is by the sea, well a big container port. How they thought that something in the middle of England would work is beyond me.
Southampton struggles and that is by the sea, well a big container port. How they thought that something in the middle of England would work is beyond me.
lustyd
Well-known member
The middle of the canal network seems a sensible place for a second show to me. Huge local population interested in dinghy sailing and canal/river boats. Add in to this the popularity of modernising interiors and onboard living/renewable energy and in theory the show lent itself well to winter projects making it more profitable for the vendors with stands than Southampton where people are still very much in cruising mode.
Obviously the theory failed, but I don't think it was a bad idea.
Obviously the theory failed, but I don't think it was a bad idea.
Koeketiene
Well-known member
Boat shows as big events (more show than boat) are certainly on their way out.
But I do feel that there's room for smaller, more boat focused events.
My home port (Cap D'Agde) hosted it's annual Salon Nautique a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised.
Not a huge event by any means, but there were at least two or three stands for everything boat (sail and mobo) related: electrics/electronics, sails/rigging, engineering, chandlery (with genuine bargains), brokerages, chartering, ...
Drinks/food were good quality at affordable prices - I had 6 oysters and a glass of white wine for 6 Euro.
And I found a carpenter who's going to make me new teak washboards for 220 Euro.
Free, interesting lectures, demonstrations, ...
The marina boat owners association organised a boat jumble next to the main event.
The wife and I spent a thoroughly enjoyable day there.
Two factors which may have to contributed to our enjoyment were:
- 24C, sun and blue skies
- entry was FREE
Some footage
st599
Well-known member
Düsseldorf isn't exactly coastal
Dukester52
Active member
Odd, considering the NEC have only recently bought the show. I wonder if it's a temporary thing?
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
The other thing is that NEC is at the centre of the Motorway network, and has extensive carparks. It's far easier for a lot of people to get there than to Southampton.
flaming
Well-known member
And yet many times more visitors went to Southampton in September than went to Boatlife out of season.
I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating. The marine industry is a seriously tough one to make a living from, especially in the UK. A show that involves excess on cost for the exhibitor over and above the stand cost is going to be much harder to justify.
The center of gravity of the UK leisure marine business is located within easy reach of Southampton, so the exhibitor is less likely to need to accommodate staff during the show. And boats can be brought there by water from their normal location at minimal cost. This, more than anything else, killed London. And Birmingham is the same from this regard.
Minerva
Well-known member
The NEC show It has 4 main problems;
Firstly, to get there by train from here (Scottish central belt) is 5hrs 30mins by train at £200 return PP with a huge probability of being delayed / not running.
Secondly the show looks tiny with few exhibitors. Which means you'll be round quicker leading to more time kicking about in town.
Finally you'll find yourself in Birmingham.
Contrast that to Dusseldorf which is running at broadly the same time; £117 return flights which take 1hr30 and more likely to get there on time. It's many times the size with far more exhibitors...
Run the following hypothetical conversations in your head
1) "Hey love, do you fancy a weekend break away in Germany in January? There's a boat show we could pop into whilst we're there too!"
2) "Hey love, do you fancy a weekend break away in Birmingham in January? There's a boat show we could pop into whilst we're there too!"
Which of those are you most likely to get a positive response from?
Firstly, to get there by train from here (Scottish central belt) is 5hrs 30mins by train at £200 return PP with a huge probability of being delayed / not running.
Secondly the show looks tiny with few exhibitors. Which means you'll be round quicker leading to more time kicking about in town.
Finally you'll find yourself in Birmingham.
Contrast that to Dusseldorf which is running at broadly the same time; £117 return flights which take 1hr30 and more likely to get there on time. It's many times the size with far more exhibitors...
Run the following hypothetical conversations in your head
1) "Hey love, do you fancy a weekend break away in Germany in January? There's a boat show we could pop into whilst we're there too!"
2) "Hey love, do you fancy a weekend break away in Birmingham in January? There's a boat show we could pop into whilst we're there too!"
Which of those are you most likely to get a positive response from?
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
Entirely true, and I like the Southampton Boat Show - but haven't been for several years because Southampton is an overnight stay for me. I quite understand the problem for exhibitors that you describe. A show LIKE Southampton at NEC would be more attractive to me, though, because I can certainly do NEC as a day trip. But the Boatlife's focus on canals puts me off, though I did one go some years ago and found it useful.
I should say that as far as I'm concerned, it's the chandlery, equipment and clothing I go for - it's fun to see the boats, but I'm not in the market for a new boat, and never will be!
benjenbav
Well-known member
I agree with all of that.
Another issue is that those who are looking for something specific can do a lot of their legwork online now and simply arrange to visit the manufacturer for any finalisation of their choice.
Whilst those who might find something unexpectedly while looking around a show will go to Düsseldorf because they know that every exhibitor will be there, whereas they might not be at the NEC.
So who does that leave for the NEC? Folks who want a couple of hours of distraction with no intention of spending any money.
benjenbav
Well-known member
Actually, I think Minerva covered all those issues already.
Teach me to skim the first couple of lines.
lustyd
Well-known member
Of your kind of boating, maybe. There isn't much in the way of canals on the south coast though, and I can't think of a single inland lake big enough to use a proper boat in the south.
We have to remember, not everything is about us. This show certainly wasn't aimed at cruisers, as people who attended would know.
Caer Urfa
Well-known member
One of the main reasons I think the Dusseldorf show is successful is its in the middle of the country and like Birmingham accessible by road, air and rail but like many boat shows some organizers in the UK think we boaters all live south of Watford
Even the RYA Dinghy show is in Farnborough down south and again organizers typically forget the cost of visitors getting there and the distance and last year Boatlife and the RYA show were within a week of each other 'only idiots can organise that'.
Even the RYA Dinghy show is in Farnborough down south and again organizers typically forget the cost of visitors getting there and the distance and last year Boatlife and the RYA show were within a week of each other 'only idiots can organise that'.
Dellquay13
Well-known member
I’m a boater living in the north midlands with a small yacht nearly 300miles away on the Celtic fringe. All of the chandlers within an hours drive have no stock of interest to me, because they cater for the inland boating market, they are closer to a caravan and camping shop than a marine chandlery. There are a lot of people in the midlands and north who have boats that are never more than 20 yards from land, often less than 10 feet from land, and they don’t use forums like YBW with its sailing bias.
I never went to Boatlife because I thought it was for the inland boating market. (I haven’t been to Soton show for over 20 years either, because I don’t like the journey or buying new yachts)
If I ever mention to someone I meet in my day to day life that I like boats, they always assume I mean a boat on a river or canal, because we are so far from any seawater you would want to put a boat into. My nearest coastal water is Skegness at 65 miles. No boat has been there since the coming of the internal combustion engine.
Last edited:
lustyd
Well-known member
I'm currently in Reading and have much the same experience
Dellquay13
Well-known member
I bet most of the boats within an hours drive of you are between 17-27 foot, at least 30 years old more like 50, and more related to a motorhome than your yacht.
Shetland are the last UK producer of grp boats for inland waterways, all the others like Norman and Birchwood have long gone, so how can an inland boat show survive in a landscape based on sales of elderly 2nd hand boats with only one manufacturer of grp boats and small makers of narrowboats. The exhibitors must have been mostly inland marinas or chandlers.
flaming
Well-known member
Then if this was a show principally for inland waterways, located in their heartlands, and it failed.....
Dellquay13
Well-known member
Once you have bought your 2nd hand river boat or narrow boat possibly with a recent engine, there are no big ticket purchases. No chartplotters, radar or autopilot. No new ST winches, rigging or sails. Just boathooks, upholstery and fenders.
It may have been the trade that gave up on the show, rather than the audience.
Last edited:
