Rising tide lifts all boats at the show
THE glitz and confidence is back on deck at the Sanctuary Cove boat show with exhibitor space booked out, international launches aplenty and next-level displays.
The 29th Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show kicked off yesterday with general manager Johan Hasser saying they had one or two spaces left where they could have “squeezed” in final exhibitors.
Not only are exhibitor numbers up 15 per cent on last year but big-name brand displays are more impressive with many adding al fresco lounge areas and hosting crews on pontoons in front of their boats.
“You know exhibitors are doing well when they are doing that,” Mr Hasser said.
“When they are doing it tough they don’t take the extra pontoon space. They try to keep it lean and mean.
“It is pretty much completely packed. I think our exhibition manager could have squeezed one or two more in.”
Mr Hasser said as well as more boats the general quality of vessels was also up across the board with four superyacht class models on display among the $130m worth of on-water craft.
Leigh-Smith Yachts toasted the first sale, a $1.1m new Alaska 47 Sedan, to a local buyer.
The show’s new Boatyard, introduced last year for more moderately-priced trailer and leisure craft, had to be boosted by an extra 2000 square metres of space.
SCIBS international government and industry boss Barry Jenkins said there was a general rise in economic confidence and in the sector.
“Loans are still cheap, overall the industry is doing very well and people are starting to make money,” he said. “If you take a look at the show today you can see how much bigger it is compared to last year.”
Both local boating identities Brett Thurley with Clipper Motor Yachts and Stefan Ackerie’s Stefan Boating World have their biggest exhibitions ever.
No display is more impressive than Maritimo’s. The local boatbuilding giant’s new showroom overlooks a $25m on-water display including two new models. Maritimo CEO Garth Corbitt said the company was focused on growing its overseas dealer network and the exports.
It now has 47 dealer partners across 15 countries including the recent addition of America’s Silver Seas Yachts, with more than 20 locations across the US.
“It’s taken a long time – the GFC bottom for us was about 2010 and it's taken years before we got momentum,” he said.
“We started getting great traction last year in Europe. We weren’t there as a brand until 2012 and really started from scratch.
“We have to grow the business globally – we can’t just rely on Australian and New Zealand and plan to spread a lot more into the US, Canada, and Europe.”