‘Strong sales’ at Sydney International Boat Show after two-year hiatus
Sydney International Boat Show has welcomed more than 45,000 visitors over the past five days, following two years of cancellations and delays due to the covid pandemic.
The 2022 Sydney International Boat Show had hundreds of boats on display, 17 Australian and Asia-Pacific and global product launches, on-water demonstrations in a purpose-built 35-metre pool and a main stage programme of boating, fishing and marine education sessions, with exhibitors reporting strong sales throughout the event.
Boating Industry Association (BIA) President Andrew Fielding said interest in boating is riding high and it was great to be back after the two-year hiatus.
“Boat registrations grew by 18,500 over the past 12 months across the nation, taking powerboat registrations to 925,000 and personal watercraft registrations to more than 90,000,” Fiedling says. “Of course, this doesn’t include the countless number of non-powered watercraft people are buying for their healthy lifestyle benefits such as stand-up paddleboards, canoes, kayaks and sailing dinghies.
“It was great to see crowds surpass 45,000 over the past few days. People enjoying the opportunity to get out and ignite their passion for boating and experiencing all that a boat show like this offers.”
“The BIA is proud to be back in this harbour city with the Sydney International Boat Show. Two years of cancellations disrupted what was up until that time an extraordinary run of boat shows,” Fielding says.
ILIAD Catamarans CEO Mark Elkington says the ILIAD 62 was released globally at the Sydney International Boat Show with buyers flying in from around Australia, the Asia Pacific region and the USA.
“By the close of day two, the ILIAD 62 on display had been sold to clients in the US, and two additional orders were placed by Australian buyers,” Elkington says, adding that a further two ILIAD 53 catamarans also sold at the show.
Multihull Solutions sold four Fountaine Pajot sailing and power catamarans to buyers from Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Port Stephens and The Yacht Sales Co. sold a Dufour 470 sailing yacht at the show and attracted several more genuine leads.
Princess Yachts director Greg Haines says the luxury motor yacht manufacturer was delighted to return to the show this year: “Given the past few years, everything felt very unknown going into this year’s show,” Haines says.
“Despite that, we were very excited to have both returning and new clients stop by, as well as customers with boats on order coming along to check out the show.”
Hunts Marine owner Jon Hunt says his family-owned and operated marine retailer has had a presence at the show every year since its inception. “It was very strong this year, good sales and good enquiries, especially in the larger Quintrex and Yellowfin boats and across the Revival fibreglass boats,” Hunt adds.
“Interestingly, the average dollar value of sales was way up and that’s a pretty good thing. Even at entry-level, we’re seeing a higher dollar value across trailer boats.”
Image courtesy of Sydney international Boat Show
Blakes Marine marked its 30th year exhibiting at the show with strong sales and keen interest from new and experienced boaties alike. “Of the five brands of boats we had on display, we were the only dealership selling those at the show which was a great point of difference for us,” owner Alan Blake says, reporting strong sales across the Stejcraft and Bar Crusher brands.
“With supply and demand tight across the industry and price rises coming, there’s a sense of urgency that gave some of those buyers a little push.
“We saw a lot of new people coming into boating and, of course, everyone’s trying to see the newest and latest and find out from us what’s coming next,” Blake says.
Australian Superyachts managing director Richard Morris says he was pleased with the high-quality buyers and leads the show attracted. “We have letters of intent out for three Majesty superyachts, three Nomad explorer yachts and expect to close deals on five Oryx 379 sports cruisers in the coming days,” Morris says.
“Clients were very interested in our commercially compliant superyachts for their charter businesses [and] we have placed numerous orders for these charter superyachts that will be seen operating in Sydney next year.”
Specialist marine electronics company Navico received the Best Small Stand in Halls award. Trade marketing executive Brad Verkerk says: “The show was a great success for Navico, attracting a wide range of not only boat owners to our stand, but also prospective buyers enquiring about electronics for new boat ownerships.”
