What to see at Boot Düsseldorf, the world’s largest boat show
A VISIT TO DÜSSELDORF AND THE WORLD’S LARGEST BOAT SHOW IS A MUST IN JANUARY. RUPERT HOLMES PREVIEWS THE ATTRACTIONS AND THE LATEST LAUNCHES
There are many good reasons for looking forward to visiting Düsseldorf in late January. The city is a perfect destination for a winter break, thanks to numerous museums, galleries, open spaces, excellent shopping and a picturesque and convivial Alt Stadt area of bars and restaurants close to the River Rhine.
Combine that with Boot Düsseldorf, the world’s largest boat show that’s celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and you have a winning formula.
As a result most visitors will want to schedule at least a couple of days in Düsseldorf and even more if you want to browse all sections of the show. In addition to new launches, from daysailers to near superyacht size, the show also includes comprehensive sections covering all aspects of life on the water. In all there are more than 2,000 exhibitors in 19 themed areas covering equipment, watersports, yacht charter and more.
Even those who have no immediate intentions of becoming boat owners will find a visit to the show rewarding. The extensive charter and boating holidays section, for instance, offers far wider options than those that tend to be presented to the main British market.
Similarly, the wide display of smaller yachts, raceboats and daysailers from both big names and small innovative startups never fails to deliver fascinating, innovative and appealing new designs.
The world’s most important and
influential boatbuilding awards are also unveiled at a gala ceremony on the opening evening of the show. The European Yacht of the Year Awards, of which Yachting World is one of the jury members, will help you to identify the top new yachts to look out for.
Given everything both the show and city offers, plus the ease of getting there, I’m perpetually surprised that relatively few Brits travel to Düsseldorf each year.
“If someone is looking to purchase, there is no better venue to compare and contrast between brands and models,” says Will Blair, Ancasta Group’s marketing director. “As well as new boats, there is everything from maritime art to an artificial wave for surfers, boating accessories, charter options, holidays, investment programs – literally everything marine related.”
NEW LAYOUT FOR 2020
This year Boot has a new layout, thanks to the completion of a new large hall, giving the show a total of 220,000m2 of space. That makes it around two and a quarter times larger than the whole of EXCEL in London and four times bigger than the former Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre.
Halls 15, 16 and 17 are now focused completely on sailing boats of all types, from single-handed dinghies to 80ft yachts. Everything to do with travel, including yacht charter, beach clubs, diving trips, canoe tours and houseboat holidays will be in Halls 11-14. Equipment and accessories are in Halls 9, 10 and 11, while surf sports are in Hall 8.
GEAR AND EQUIPMENT
Many of the new products that were launched at METS in November last year will be on show to the public for the first time at Düsseldorf. The sailing world is arguably changing faster than ever before, so the show is a unique opportunity to keep up with new developments.
At the same time, as with new yachts, there’s a vast range of existing products that makes comparison across manufacturers easy. For instance when I was specifying a new headsail furling system a few years ago, being able to see all the options in the same hall at Boot was infinitely quicker, more efficient and easier than attempting a similar exercise in the UK.
Historically, this was always one of the benefits of the London Boat Show – you could update knowledge of new gear, while also being able to compare options when upgrading systems. In it’s final few years London became too small to do this, while Düsseldorf continued to grow and expand.
NEW BOAT LAUNCHES
This year there are fewer world premieres at Düsseldorf compared to the past few editions of the show. However, there will be many new models that appeared at only a few of the autumn boat shows – instead of spending weeks travelling to different venues, this means they can all be seen in one location, which allows for the kind of side-by-side comparisons that can really help make informed decisions when choosing a new yacht.
Among bluewater cruising yachts these include the Amel 60 that debuted at Cannes in September, the Grand Soleil 42LC and the Ovni 400. Performance cruisers at Düsseldorf for the first time include the First Yacht 53, Swan 48 and X4^0. Models at the racier end of the spectrum include the Dehler 30 One Design, Sun Fast 3300, the foil-equipped Clubswan 36 and the J/boats line up.
Saffier is hoping to unveil the new 27 Se Leisure at the show if it’s finished in time. Similarly, the new Tofinou 9.7 that was
also shown at Paris, La Rochelle and Genoa will also be on display, along with a host of other interesting and innovative designs from more than a dozen manufacturers specialising in this sector.
However, the magic of this event extends far beyond the new model launches. All the major boatbuilders, as well as many smaller operators, bring a large chunk of their range. For instance, as well as its new X4^0, X-yachts will show the X4^3, X4^6 and X4^9, plus an XC45 and an Xp44.
The largest yacht will be the CNB 76, which launched in 2015 and has sold phenomenally well, thanks to a combination of near superyacht size and space with a relatively economical price tag.