Johannesburg Boat Show Heralds the Arrival of Spring 2013

[map id=”8″] The second staging of the Johannesburg Boat Show at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec took place from 8 – 11 August 2013. Chairman of the Gauteng Boat Retailers’ Association, Dan Savadier, hailed the 2013 edition a great success.

Johannesburg Boat Show

The Show saw the launch of a number of new products from participating exhibitors. ninety-eight boating manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and accessory suppliers filled the 13,500sqm Boat Show. A whopping 25 692 ticket sales were recorded by Computicket.

Launch highlights included product from a number of major suppliers namely:

Broderick Marine launched two super-luxury boats at the Johannesburg Boat Show. The Vanderbijlpark-based luxury boat retailer will be show-casing the Cobalt R5 24-foot mid-sized runabout, and the sumptuous 27-foot Avalon Entertainer pontoon.
The talk of this year’s Red Bull Wake Open in Tampa, Florida, was the “perfect wake” delivered by the Malibu Wakesetter 22 MXZ. Good news for South African water sport fans is that it was on display at the Johannesburg Boat Show and is now available from Boating International.
Twin Boats, the Midvaal-based boat builders, unveiled their breath-taking new 30-foot off-shore boat, the Sensation 30.
South Africa’s Dealer of Tige Boats and 2013 SA Pro Mens Wakeboard Champion, Shaun Faccio, was unequivocal in his praise for the boat that spear-headed the company’s display. The Z3 was at the forefront of my exhibit. It’s THE ultimate wake and surf boat.”

Chris Teer from Airborne Towers also staged a competition with the lucky winner, Eurische van Rooyen, walking off with a Tower valued at R25,000. The Johannesburg Boat Show congratulates Eurische on his fantastic prize.

Johannesburg Boat Show 2013

MIASA took the opportunity to announce the Boat Builders Plate at the Official Opening of the Johannesburg Boat Show. Vanessa Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Industry Association addressed the industry announced MIASA’s initiative of introducing a boat builder’s plate. The objective of the Builders Plate is to build consumer confidence when purchasing a boat and to start ensuring baseline adherence to specifications from a manufacturer’s perspective

A vote of confidence in the show this year was shown by the presence of the South African Maritime Safety Association, which was one of the show’s sponsors for 2013 and SAMSA conducted instruction “mini-courses” throughout the weekend on the importance of boat safety, as well as details on how to go about obtaining a skipper’s licence.

The Johannesburg Boat Show drew positive comments by leaders in the Gauteng Boating Industry as well as thousands of visitors.

“Once again a world class show with the right clientele, second year running and growing from strength to strength. It was great to host the show earlier in the month this year, which shortened our winter. And there were definitely interested buyers. This is thanks to the dealers put in a lot of effort so I think it was a great show.” Paul Trollope, General Manager of Boating International

Andre van Helsdingen, co-owner of Midvaal-based Twin Boats was again impressed with the standards shown by the exhibitors. “The show gave an impressive overall feeling of quality. Soon the Johannesburg International Motor Show will be held at the same venue, and if you compare the two shows, although the boating industry is but a fraction of the size of the car industry, I think we will measure up very well to the car show.

“I have attended boat shows in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Dusseldorf, London and elsewhere and I can honestly state that in terms of the sheer quality of the show, if not always in size, our show ranks right up there internationally,” said Van Helsdingen.

“The Johannesburg Boat Show reflects one hundred per cent on the South African boat industry as it is today, with the obvious exclusion of the yachting specialists down in Cape Town. And it is all on show in one building, one place, which is invaluable.

“The show also illustrates the standard of workmanship available from locally-produced boats. It is unbelievable how the quality of locally-produced boats has improved in recent years,” said Van Helsdingen.

Dan Savadier, Managing Director of Waterworld, and Chairman of the Gauteng Boating Retailers’ Association, said that a good quality of clientele attended the Show. “There was a particular focussing on the top end of the market, so that was good”. “The public holiday was the best day. Generally the quality of the exhibits was very good and the organisation was good, so I’m happy,” said Savadier.

Nasrec Boat Show