Boat show to help fuel boom in watersports

THE North Wales economy will be riding the crest of a wave next year thanks to a boom in watersports - helped by celebrities like Carol Vorderman taking up paddleboarding.

Organisers of the 2022 All Wales Boat and Leisure Show are expecting 6,000 visitors to Venue Cymru in Llandudno on February 5 and 6.

Davina Carey-Evans, MD of event organisers Sbarc, said: “This will be the biggest celebration of watersports in Wales and is a must-visit event for boat owners and watersport lovers.

“The marine sector is growing faster in Wales than any other part of the UK and watersports generate an annual tourism spend of more than £300 million.”

The All Wales Boat and Leisure Show will be in its eighth year. There is expected to be plenty of interest in growth sports such as windsurfing and particularly stand-up paddleboarding, Wales’s lockdown boom sport of the summer with numbers up by 70 per cent to 180,000 this year.

It is partly fuelled by celebrity devotees – exCountdown queen Carol Vorderman has been among those pictured in the UK press, while trying it out.

Anglesey motorboat specialist Dulas Boats, based at Dinas, near Moelfre, stocked paddleboards for the first time this year and have seen them almost sell out.

Alwyn Rowlands, who started the business with his father almost 50 years ago, said: “They’ve gone very well – they’re a really good way to get onto the water.”

There will be a host of boating and watersport activity providers at the event and the chance for visitors to get their hands on everything from boats to surfboards with exhibitors including Training Centres, Sales and Repair, Marinas, Chandlery, Leisure Parks, as well as have a go sessions and workshops.