My brother Mike and I had a day visit to the Southampton Boat Show yesterday. The SBS is an annual event - we have both been before over the years but neither of us have been for some time. We were not a dream visitor for the show because neither of us had any intention of buying a boat - ha! However our intention was to have a good look around to see what was on offer both in terms of boats and particularly in our case - in terms of equipment for sailing.
The layout was much as I remembered it and the atmosphere was obviously the boating vibe you would expect - it was a very enjoyable day out.
Essentially the show is divided into two parts - the boats tied up alongside the pontoons (marina) and the onshore stuff.
The SBS covers all aspects of boating. The marina is where you go to inspect the boats on offer and literally there are millions of pounds worth tied up against the pontoons for people to view - and of course order - if the sales teams are lucky.
From what I can gather all aspects of boat sales are in the doldrums a bit across the board. I am not suprised. Boats are so expensive. There was a whole flotilla of £500,000 + ex vat luxury Cats for sale. £250000 doesn't buy anywhere as much as you would expect in boat terms and £100,000 is relative peanuts. Just byway of an incredible example - a 16 ft Orkney Longliner - a small open fishing boat with a decent outboard and a trailer is over £25000 now.
My impression of the marina display was sail boats were under represented which was a shame. There were masses of motor cruisers - the Sunseeker types - the gin palaces - the so called glamour end of boating. No interest for us whatsoever - not my idea of boating. There are also lots of "rib" type boats in all sorts of configurations - black tubes are definitely the in colour. They look menacing which I guess is the point. On a positive note everything was presented well on the pontoons and is an excellent place to view the boats if you are in the market for one.
On the onshore side there is a big offer - but not so much as I remember. We chatted with one chandler and basically she said that on line sales is changing everything as it is in most aspects of retail. Mike was interested in buying some foulies. I am not particularly proud of it but the way to go for us and I think many people now is to view the goods in the shop - even try them on - and then buy them online later to get the price point. This is bound to have an impact on the good business sense of setting up a stall and this is something the SBS and all retailers will have to grapple with going forward.
From a personal point of view I came away with the following thoughts :
It was a good day out.
I have spent a fair bit on refitting my little sailing boat and I have reflected could I have done better for my money. However it is clear after looking around the show that what I have spent is relative peanuts and actually I have achieved good value - fingers crossed!
My final thought is there are so many different types of boats in size, configuration and cost. What to choose ? The answer is clear to me. You have to decide in advance what you want the boat for, how are you going to use it - what do you want out of it. Compromise is needed. That is not easy - needs evolve - needs change. In my case I am not interested in speed. I am not interested in luxury. What I want from sailing is getting away from it all - back to nature - pottering - simplicity. My idea of boating is akin to the joys of camping. There is the old adage - the bigger the boat the bigger the problems! Who wants big problems - ha!
Dreams alive ! xxxx
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