Southampton Boat Show attendance

[dslittle]

A wealthy friend of mine wanted a Hardy. ( He had just sold his business property in London for £several m. It had always been his dream boat. He went on the stand & presumably because of his tatty jumper & faded jeans the rep was a little off hand & rude to him. My friend, being the shy type, was devastated. He went back the following day & bought a Beneteau Princess from the adjoining stand. Unfortunately it was a carp boat & he hardly used it after lots of troubles with engines, gearbox & delaminated hull to name just a few items.
I think that if he had gone to the Hardy brokers premises with an appointment, ignoring the boat show, he may have had a better response & bought his dream boat. It would have cost three times , as much, but that was of no consequence. The boat show actually did him a disservice., as it nearly did us.

We went to the Boat Show to buy a yacht. Although we had a boat in mind, we went to number of Stands that had boats we could afford.

We had exactly the same sort of reaction from a maker starting with S (which would look like a Cardinal with a black bottom and a yellow top). The end result was my wife saying that we would NEVER buy one of their boats. We did buy our current yacht and have been very happy with it, even though it worked out much cheaper than the other option.

As they say ‘first impressions last’!!!

 

[samfieldhouse]

I was lucky enough to get a free ticket through my marina; the face value of tickets I thought pretty expensive this year.
I enjoyed it and picked up everything I was after. There was a wealth of space in the main hall, far fewer stands than pre-covid.
I also missed 'the green' evenings from last year which were superb but basically unadvertised - live bands, food and open till 10pm, it was cracking. Cracking for the 30 odd people who were there, which was a shame.
The lack of free 'try-a-boat' was also a shame; there were no dinghies available to take out this year and if there were, they weren't advertised.

 

[dunedin]

I was lucky enough to get a free ticket through my marina; the face value of tickets I thought pretty expensive this year.
I enjoyed it and picked up everything I was after. There was a wealth of space in the main hall, far fewer stands than pre-covid.
I also missed 'the green' evenings from last year which were superb but basically unadvertised - live bands, food and open till 10pm, it was cracking. Cracking for the 30 odd people who were there, which was a shame.
The lack of free 'try-a-boat' was also a shame; there were no dinghies available to take out this year and if there were, they weren't advertised.

It looked like there were people going out in sailing dinghies when we were there. Certainly plenty of adverts for try-a-boat activities

Frankly I would rather my marina fees were cheaper than the marina squandering money on free tickets and fancy stands at boat shows

 

[Boathook]

What's the parking like?

I don't know. When I go to London I get the train. Driving in London years ago never bothered me but now I hate it.

 

[bedouin]

For those that did actually go, and have some useful feedback (eg about ticket prices, catering or seating) the organisers have sent out to attendees a very comprehensive post visit survey - particularly if you elect to answer the additional questions (eg it specifically includes a rating on seating provision, for example).
Worth completing

If they want useful feedback perhaps they should survey those who didn't go rather than those who did

 

[AntarcticPilot]

If they want useful feedback perhaps they should survey those who didn't go rather than those who did

Same principle as when they were working out which parts of aircraft to put armour on during WW2. At first, they looked at the returning aircraft, counted the bullet holes and put armour on the bits with most bullet holes. Then some bright spark pointed out that they should be putting armour on the places without bullet holes - because aircraft hit there weren't coming back! All the number of bullet holes on returning aircraft showed was places where a hit was survivable! People who attend a show will have a natural bias to speak well of the experience - after all, they've devoted time and money to it. Almost by default, they're satisfied customers. It's people in the target audience who DIDN'T go that they need to survey, to find out WHY they didn't go. My reason is very straightforward - I'm in Hong Kong, finally spending time with my late wife's friends and family after far too long a period when I couldn't. But most people here have given reasons such as the lack of stands where things like clothes can be tried on (and I don't buy technical clothes mail-order because I want to try before I buy), lack of interest in buying new boats etc.

I'd have thought that a survey of (say) RYA members asking whether they went to SBS and if not, why not? would be more productive than an exit survey.

 

[doug748]

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Still trying to sabotage our forum then?

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[Chiara’s slave]

We went, because we got cheap tickets at the last minute. £32 is just ridiculous, especially for a show that’s a sad reminder of a glory past.

 

[Bouba]

It’s my impression that it’s the exhibitors job to attract potential customers to a trade show…it is possible that because the manufacturers are completely tied up that they are doing too good a job…I have bought two boats on a boatshow whim so it is important to attract the general public but I suspect that the exhibitors would be happy with fewer more serious visitors

 

[Bouba]

I think one universal boat show problem is that the exhibits are guarded by beautiful girls ….the power of right of entry is given to them even if their only qualification is beauty.

 

[LiftyK]

What's the parking like?

£5 all day in the adjacent multi storey car park. Plenty of space When I arrived at 10am on a Sunday.

 

[Sandy]

£5 all day in the adjacent multi storey car park. Plenty of space When I arrived at 10am on a Sunday.

Sounds better than Southampton.

 

[WoodyP]

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More like Eyore than Tigger.

 

[doug748]

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Very moving.

Have you read the terms and conditions for use of this site?

.

 

[TiggerToo]

Very moving.

Have you read the terms and conditions for use of this site?

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in a limited and specific way

 

[Capt Popeye]

I think you'll find that the British marine industry has been in large decline well before the term Brexit was even thought of.

Might comment that our British Marine Industry has had a few Ups n Downs from the 40s through to now ; so nothing unusual in that then

 

[Capt Popeye]

£5 all day in the adjacent multi storey car park. Plenty of space When I arrived at 10am on a Sunday.

Sounds better than Southampton.

Yea BUT is there more likelyhood of incuring a Fine for straying into Bus Lanes , prohibited Lanes /areas in London these days ; plus of course a Fine for using a Non Green enough car ?

Recon that our (ex) London is a no go area , so Southampton is a better bet ; Besides which Southampton has Links with Sailng / Boating plus plus its got a Naughtical Aroura about if , wheras London has none at all now

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Yea BUT is there more likelyhood of incuring a Fine for straying into Bus Lanes , prohibited Lanes /areas in London these days ; plus of course a Fine for using a Non Green enough car ?

Recon that our (ex) London is a no go area , so Southampton is a better bet ; Besides which Southampton has Links with Sailng / Boating plus plus its got a Naughtical Aroura about if , wheras London has none at all now

I lived in London for about 5 years, and for part of that time kept a car there (this was before congestion charges and so on). I would NEVER deliberately drive into central London, despite knowing my way around. It's FAR easier to use the train and underground, far less stressful and you don't have to try and find a parking space..

 

[doug748]

in a limited and specific way

So what did you make of it?

 

[Seven Spades]

Well I thought it was the best show for years for everything except a new boat. The number of manufacturers deciding not to take part is a disappointment but to be fair it is not the reason I go to the show.

By far the biggest problem with the show is the gruesome catering. The options to eat are simply awful, in the past we would always go to the Holiday Inn but that is now outside the complex, next year I will have to see if we can go there and re-enter.