The 39th Southampton Boat Show was a huge success, with more than 127,200 visitors - 9,500 more than last year, and exhibitors reporting healthy sales.
Those visitors enjoyed 600 exhibitors and more than 370 boats afloat at the Hydropool Marina, say the show organizers. HMS Bounty proved to be a popular attraction with around 40,000 visitors exploring the boat.
Alan Morgan, chairman of National Boat Shows, said: “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.”
Andrew Williams, managing director of National Boat Shows said: “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.”
Many exhibitors reported good sales throughout the show and were pleased with the number of visitors making purchases.
Ian Braham of Lombard Marine Finance reported that 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,often as high as 70-30,” he said.
“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."
Julian Gowing, managing director 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, reported “massive interest.” He said: “We have been introducing an enormous amount of people into boating through the show, which has been really successful for us. We will be taking 65 families new to boating out sailing in October through leads which we have generated at the Show.”
