Primed for spring and the summer months ahead! That’s the prevailing spirit at the Johannesburg Boat Show, which opened at Nasrec on Thursday August 8, and runs through until this Sunday, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre at Nasrec.
This year’s event is the second running of South Africa’s biggest boat show, and it is a showcase for the entire boat-building, importing and retailing industry.
Boats on display range from simple run-about leisure-craft to yacht-style cruisers worth well over R1-million. And the standard of workmanship on all the craft on display is the envy of just about every other industry in South Africa.
There are boats on show from all the major global players, as well as specialist engine displays, boating accessories such as GPS and fish-finding systems, safety clothing, wakeboarding equipment, water-skis, fishing equipment and many other maritime-related items.
There are also stands manned by specialist marine insurers and boat skippering and chartering organisations. Importantly, the Johannesburg Boat Show also has on board the South African Maritime Safety Organisation which will be running lectures on boating safety and skipper licensing requirements each day at various times throughout the show weekend.
One of the stands also has a fishing simulator, where expert and would-be anglers can pit their skills against each other for a laugh, or even for a serious wager!
The SA Boat Retailer Association chairman Dan Savadier said he continues to be amazed by the amount of excitement generated by the show, which has stands represented by all the major players in the South African boating industry. The local manufacturers are also well-represented in this important industry, which provides thousands of jobs to South Africans, as it is such a labour-intensive industry with a premium on hand-craft skills.
For this reason the boating industry is also strongly supported by the SA Government’s dti, the Department of Trade & Industry.
Andre van Helsdingen, one of the prime motivators behind the show and co-owner of the Vaal-located boat-building factory, Twin Boats, said that he has visited boat shows all over the world and is of the opinion that none of them match the Johannesburg Boat Show for enthusiasm and for the class of boats and displays on offer.
On the action front, there will be displays of the exciting cable-pulled wakeboarding sport on the Nasrec Lake. There will also be rock music daily by the popular duo Bill Graceful, and a number of other outdoor activities as the show is being run in co-located fashion with the AMiD Motorcycle Show and the Outdoor Lifestyle Show.
