PlainSailing @ Southampton Boat Show 2018
Friday, 21st September 2018We’ve been so busy over the last few months that this years’ Southampton Boat Show sprang up on us, but has been a welcome break, and a chance to get back out on a boat again.
It’s the 50th anniversary of the Southampton Boat show, and it’s the main boat show in the UK, so it’s been a real gathering of the biggest brands and sailing enthusiasts right across the country, and indeed, the continent.
It’s been interesting and invigorating to get out there and actually speak to potential customers (instead of LiveChatting at them), to catch up with a few suppliers (and friends) and to wander around and see first-hand the latest gadgets that we can expect to see around the marina over the next few years.
Our whole team have been particularly impressed with the latest range of Beneteau boats – we were lucky enough to be there for the world premiere of the Oceanis 46.1 this week - but the whole range in general are examples of how great design can transform a space above or below deck. Up top, even though the boats are pretty standard across the beam, they have somehow managed to make the cockpit area seem massive. And down below, there’s so much more space, comfort and style than you’d find on boats that were being designed and built even as recently as 2010.
The Dufour yachts were also noteworthy for their addition of an outdoor sink and cooker to the back of the cockpit area. They may not have seemed too useful in the whirling winds of Southampton, but you can imagine it being a truly amazing place to cook and eat when you’re in a quiet sunny bay, and anything that makes cooking less of a chore is a winning idea!
Away from the boats, our Commercial Director was left spell-bound enough by a cool-bag which will keep ice, well, as ice, for over 24 hours that he ended up parting with his own hard-earned money. Likewise, there’s a few of our team with jazzy new jackets and sailing trousers that they can’t wait to get out and use.
One of the biggest products this year is Stand Up Paddleboards, which you’ll find on almost every stall here, and which, if you’re interested, are increasingly becoming available on charter yachts – which is lucky, as you’d struggle to get an SUP on an aeroplane as hold luggage.
The boat show runs till Sunday (though there’s heavy 60 knot winds forecast for Sunday, so there’s talk that they might yet have to cancel the final day), and if you like boats, sailing, or both, then you need to get down there!
