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The annual METSTRADE Show in Holland has completed a very successful week, reinforcing its reputation as the world’s premier gathering of the leisure marine community. As well as breaking new ground in terms of exhibitor and visitor numbers, the B2B event in RAI Amsterdam convention centre welcomed an exceptional 116 different nationalities, the highest number to date. With some 10,500 visitors coming from outside the Netherlands, six percent more than in 2016, the METSTRADE Show has an unrivalled international character. METSTRADE 2018 will take place from 13 to 15 November.

As the 30th birthday edition of this platform for leisure marine professionals, METSTRADE 2017 was always destined to be a special event. Early indications are that visitor figures were the highest recorded for the three-day event, with 16,307unique visitors (an increase of over 5% compared to 2016) and an overall total of 24,856 visits (also plus 5%). Even more pleasing to the organisers, who are committed to ensuring that the METSTRADE Show remains the essential global meeting place for the leisure marine industry, was that these visitors came from 116 different countries (107 in 2016).

Growth across the board
An impressive 68% of all new visitors came from outside the Netherlands, with the top five visitor countries (after NL) being Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain. Significant growth was seen from Greece, Croatia, Finland, the United States and Ireland. All visitors were welcomed on the show floor by no less than 1552 exhibitors (a rise of 5% compared to last year), whose stands were manned by around 6594 high-end industry professionals. The exhibiting companies were also delighted by the unprecedented international flavour of the event.

“METSTRADE continues to be an important platform for our brand to meet with many of our distributors from around the world, including New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Singapore,” comments Chris Feibusch, Head of Global Marketing for WesCom Signal and Rescue in the UK. “This was the first time that we have exhibited under our new name following a rebrand last month and it was great to reconnect and discuss business with current and prospective distributors at METSTRADE. We look forward to following these business leads up.”

Atul Gupta, director of the Indian company Multiflex Marine, was equally enthusiastic. “METSTRADE is the Mecca of the marine industry and by far the best show of its kind anywhere in the world. We exhibit at many exhibitions worldwide but nothing beats METSTRADE. Having attended the event over the last eight years we have pretty much built all our international business via the METSTRADE Show.”

Vibrant and innovative
While the facts & figures make good reading for the METSTRADE team, what also matters is the way the show was perceived by all who attended. “This anniversary edition was a success because it was conducted in a vibrant atmosphere where exhibitors and visitors alike enjoyed excellent business,” comments RAI Amsterdam’s Maritime Director Irene Dros. “There was also a great deal of appreciation for the exceptionally high number of new and innovative products on display. The newly introduced E-nnovationLAB added to this, featuring technologies and manufacturers of electric & hybrid marine propulsion systems. The foundations have been laid for a promising showcase which will evolve in the years ahead.”

Future-proof
Another future-oriented theme at METSTRADE 2017 was the way younger people were placed firmly in the spotlight, with the large number in attendance adding to the inspiring mood. The METSTRADE Young Professionals Club lounge was very busy and the first edition of the YPC canal cruise was a great success, with the IBEX Millennials joining the fun.

“We have a clear ambition for METSTRADE to embrace the next generation of both people and technologies,” explains Dros. “To thrive in the future, the marine industry must strengthen partnerships, focus on the latest developments in society, and use the latest propulsion and production methods. We believe in stepping into the world which connects the I-pad & game generation – the vloggers and other young influencers who have an enormous impact on consumer behaviour and their followers’ aspirations for luxury products such as boats.”

Published in Marine Trade
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There's been a big shout out for the Irish Marine Federation (IMF) stand at this week's London Boat Show from UK boaters who have been 'surprised to learn' of the range of sailing club and marina facilities available around the Irish coastline. But there have also been expressions of thanks from Irish visitors to the International Show at Excel who are delighted to see Ireland showcased as a maritime destination.

According to stand executive Ciara Dowling, the biggest surprise among some UK boaters visiting the stand (F046) has been the map of Ireland showing over 60 marina locations. Many visitors, she says, simply had not known of the existence of many Irish marina, jetty and pontoon locations, a situation the Irish Marina Federation are keen to rectify.

UK boater feed back from the show so far indicates the close proximity of Wales to Dublin and Ireland's attractive berthing rates compared with the current high value of  Sterling against the Euro could be a factor to entice UK boaters to cruise Ireland and even moor boats here in the longer term.

Irish marine federation london

Gerry Salmon of MGM Boats and Paal Janson of Dun Laoghaire on the first ever IMF stand at this week's London Boat Show in Excel.

Published in Irish Marinas

#liverpoolboatshow – The Northern Boat Show is a festival of boating at the heart of the International Mersey River Festival. This three-day boat show will showcase world class sailing boats, power boats and marine products and services, all set against the backdrop of the Albert Dock.

The latest sailing and power boats will be showcased in Albert Dock and there will be a land-based exhibition on the quayside next to Salthouse Dock. The land-based show will be free to all festival visitors and boat enthusiasts can purchase pontoon tickets to gain exclusive access to the boats on display in Albert Dock.

Location: Liverpool Waterfront, Liverpool L3 4BB. Open 10am to 5pm Fri 5th, Sat 6th & Sun 7th June.

 

Published in Marine Trade
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#hanseboot – German boat show hanseboot 2012 focused on Northern European waters and it has proved effective say organisers.

"The increased focus of hanseboot on Northern European waters has produced good results," said Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC) at the close of the 53rd Hamburg International Boat Show on Sunday. "Exhibitors from all segments have confirmed to us that they had noticeably more visitors, especially at the weekends, from Denmark, Sweden and other Northern European countries. In Year one of this new orientation, the overall result after nine days of hanseboot is positive."

Torsten Conradi, President of the German Boat and Ship Building Association (DBSV, one of the official supporters of hanseboot), is convinced that this sharpening of hanseboot's profile is a good thing. "The new orientation of hanseboot in terms of its geographical coverage and content is much appreciated by all. But of course a focusing process like this cannot be completed in just one year. We will work with the experience gained and the suggestions and needs of exhibitors and visitors, continuing the journey we have started with HMC, to optimise the direction of hanseboot even more."

About 80,000 visitors from Germany and abroad came to hanseboot, which was held from 27 October to 4 November. The visitor total was about the same as last year (78,920 in 2011). "This year there was no official In-Water hanseboot in the Port of Hamburg because of extensive construction work going on for protection of the waterway and flood defences. We feel it is a good sign that the number of visitors in the exhibition halls maintained the same level as last year, considering the difficult market situation that still exists," said Aufderheide. "And many exhibitors are confirming to us that hanseboot appeals to the right audience, that is boat owners and watersports enthusiasts with above-average expertise and purchasing power."

According to a representative, independent survey of visitors, the proportion of trade visitors was up 7 percentage points versus last year, reaching 22%. First-time visitors also increased by 5% to 25%.

There was a wide range of attractions to bring newcomers and experienced boating people to the exhibition halls – alongside the numerous boats and yachts of all types and sizes, from new products and classics to sports and cruise boats, series-produced yachts and one-off builds, there were further trends and innovations in the watersports sector, and new features in the supporting programme of specialist presentations and hands-on events.

The new hanseboot Refit arena on the upper floor of event hall B1 was a real crowd puller. Together with A.W. Niemeyer, M. and H. von der Linden and the specialist magazine Yacht und boote, hanseboot looked for old, damaged GRP boats for free-of-charge repair or refit in a showcase building and repair yard during hanseboot. "The traditional reason for going to the hanseboot is that you get so much useful information here. That has certainly worked very well with the Refit arena," said Helge von der Linden. "Visitors were very interested and wanted detailed information, asking very specific questions. The owners of the boats also played a very active part, and learned a great deal."

Whereas the Refit arena was aimed mainly at experienced sailors and boat owners, the Dinghy Newcomers' arena in Hall A4 was particularly appreciated by visitors with little or no previous experience of sailing. Various dinghy models were exhibited on about 200 square metres, and people could try them out on a sailing simulator without getting wet, for example with capsize exercises or trapeze sailing. "We had good discussions with potential customers and also existing customers and collected leads with potential newcomers – that is visitors without experience of sailing, without a sailing license, without their own boat and without charter experience. The Dinghy Newcomers' arena proved very effective," said Christian Brandt from Onsail, which initiated the new action space as a partner of hanseboot.

The focus of hanseboot clearly moved further North as far as exhibitors were concerned, with national pavilions from Estonia, Poland and Finland. The Polar 55 from the Polar Shipyard in Estonia was the largest sailing yacht in the halls with a length of 16.45 metres, attracting a great many visitors. "The Estonian exhibitors had varying expectations for the boat show. Some of them were looking for new dealers, while others already have many years of business relations with Germany. Our boat builders are very satisfied with hanseboot as a whole. Interest was strong, many sales discussions were held, and nearly all our exhibitors took in orders," said Riina Leminsky, Director of the Estonian Business Promotion Enterprise "Estonia in Deutschland".

The DBSV, supporting partner of hanseboot, expressed satisfaction. "hanseboot produced better results than expected, in a difficult economic environment," said DBSV Managing Director Claus-Ehlert Meyer. "The DBSV members at our joint stand had a lot of questions about extensive repair and refitting work. And many contracts were signed for individual building projects. This market segment was also presented by the exceptional yachts at the DBSV special show, which met with a great deal of interest and enormous enthusiasm on the part of visitors."

Quotes from hanseboot exhibitors are shown in the Press Section at www.hanseboot.de

Dates for the next hanseboot and hanseboot ancora boat show 2013:

§ hanseboot 2013, 54th Hamburg International Boat Show, is to be held from 26 October to 3 November 2013.

§ The hanseboot ancora boat show at the ancora marina in Neustadt/Holstein will be held under the leadership of the hanseboot team, from 24 to 26 May 2013.

Published in Marine Trade
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#MARITIME FESTIVALS – Organisers of the 2012 Boat & Leisure Festival 'Cowesfest' have taken the difficult decision to cancel the Jubilee-themed Festival that was scheduled to be held in Cowes Yacht Haven on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th June.

Spearheaded by the Managing Director, James Brooke, his vision for this two-day Festival was to create a stunning display of British boats and outdoor leisure activities for visitors to see, interact with and enjoy in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Plans were also well underway to incorporate a packed schedule of live music. Sadly, it has not been possible to encourage enough companies to take exhibitor space and participate at the Festival, despite the low cost of doing so in such a high profile venue and over such a special bank holiday. However, Mr Brooke has been astounded by some terrific support shown particularly from local residents and some companies based on the Isle of Wight, and the organising team would like to express sincere thanks for this support.

"We feel that cancelling the Festival now is the responsible decision to take as it would be hugely disappointing for everyone if we produced an event that is anything less than exceptionally good. We pride ourselves on delivering high quality events, and hope that the time and effort that has been put into planning this event can be rewarded at a future date," says Mr Brooke.

He continues, "In order to help protect the future of other events and exhibitions, any companies wishing to exhibit at them really must understand that they will not be able to take advantage of any discounted or free stand space by waiting until the last minute to book! This notion simply undermines the potential success of the entire event and shows little consideration for all the other exhibitors who have been so supportive from an early stage. This culture has become widespread within the marine industry, and we consider it to be a greater threat to the future of exhibitions than the current economic climate."

Any deposits paid are being refunded in full.

Published in Maritime Festivals
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More than 140 exhibitors are putting the final touches to their stands today at the South Wales Boat Show in Swansea ahead of curtain-up tomorrow morning. The show opens to the public on Friday at 10am with the official opening ceremony at 11am. 

The show features all manner of exhibitor from the trade and leisure sectors. Among the more bizarre exhibitors is Tom McNally, who hopes to set a record for crossing the Atlantic in the smallest craft ever to make the journey, a tiny vessel of 3 feet 10 inches in length. (see HERE). In early 1993 McNally took the world record for the smallest craft to cross the Atlantic, in a boat 5 feet 4 1/2 inches long but was bested by another sailor shortly thereafter in a craft just half an inch shorter.

 

Published in Marine Trade
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The next Barcelona International Boat Show will be held from the 6th to the 14th of November 2010 in the Gran Via venue and Barcelona’s Port Vell, will host the On-Water Show.

Published in Marine Federation
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About The Middle Sea Race

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a highly rated offshore classic, often mentioned in the same breath as the Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney–Hobart and Newport-Bermuda as a 'must do' race. The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club co-founded the race in 1968 and 2007 was the 28th Edition. Save for a break between 1984 and 1995 the event has been run annually attracting 25–30 yachts. In recent years, the number of entries has rissen sharply to 68 boats thanks to a new Organising Committee who managed to bring Rolex on board as title sponsor for the Middle Sea Race.

The race is a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable and demanding conditions. Equally, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of islands, which form marks of the course. Ted Turner described the MSR as "the most beautiful race course in the world".

Apart from Turner, famous competitors have included Eric Tabarly, Cino Ricci, Herbert von Karajan, Jim Dolan, Sir Chay Blyth and Sir Francis Chichester (fresh from his round the world adventure). High profile boats from the world's top designers take part, most in pursuit of line honours and the record – competing yachts include the extreme Open 60s, Riviera di Rimini and Shining; the maxis, Mistress Quickly, Zephyrus IV and Sagamore; and the pocket rockets such as the 41-foot J-125 Strait Dealer and the DK46, Fidessa Fastwave.

In 2006, Mike Sanderson and Seb Josse on board ABN Amro, winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, the super Maxis; Alfa Romeo and Maximus and the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race overall winner, Hasso Platner on board his MaxZ86, Morning Glory.

George David on board Rambler (ex-Alfa Romeo) managed a new course record in 2007 and in 2008, Thierry Bouchard on Spirit of Ad Hoc won the Rolex Middle Sea Race on board a Beneteau 40.7

The largest number of entries was 78 established in 2008.

Middle Sea Race History

IN THE BEGINNING

The Middle Sea Race was conceived as the result of sporting rivalry between great friends, Paul and John Ripard and an Englishman residing in Malta called Jimmy White, all members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. In the early fifties, it was mainly British servicemen stationed in Malta who competitively raced. Even the boats had a military connection, since they were old German training boats captured by the British during the war. At the time, the RMYC only had a few Maltese members, amongst who were Paul and John Ripard.

So it was in the early sixties that Paul and Jimmy, together with a mutual friend, Alan Green (later to become the Race Director of the Royal Ocean Racing Club), set out to map a course designed to offer an exciting race in different conditions to those prevailing in Maltese coastal waters. They also decided the course would be slightly longer than the RORC's longest race, the Fastnet. The resulting course is the same as used today.

Ted Turner, CEO of Turner Communications (CNN) has written that the Middle Sea Race "must be the most beautiful race course in the world. What other event has an active volcano as a mark of the course?"

In all of its editions since it was first run in 1968 – won by Paul Ripard's brother John, the Rolex Middle Sea Race has attracted many prestigious names in yachting. Some of these have gone on to greater things in life and have actually left their imprint on the world at large. Amongst these one finds the late Raul Gardini who won line honours in 1979 on Rumegal, and who spearheaded the 1992 Italian Challenge for the America's Cup with Moro di Venezia.

Another former line honours winner (1971) who has passed away since was Frenchman Eric Tabarly winner of round the world and transatlantic races on Penduik. Before his death, he was in Malta again for the novel Around Europe Open UAP Race involving monohulls, catamarans and trimarans. The guest list for the Middle Sea Race has included VIP's of the likes of Sir Francis Chichester, who in 1966 was the first man to sail around the world single-handedly, making only one stop.

The list of top yachting names includes many Italians. It is, after all a premier race around their largest island. These include Navy Admiral Tino Straulino, Olympic gold medallist in the star class and Cino Ricci, well known yachting TV commentator. And it is also an Italian who in 1999 finally beat the course record set by Mistress Quickly in 1978. Top racing skipper Andrea Scarabelli beat it so resoundingly, he knocked off over six hours from the time that had stood unbeaten for 20 years.

World famous round the world race winners with a Middle Sea Race connection include yachting journalist Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Les Williams, both from the UK.

The Maxi Class has long had a long and loving relationship with the Middle Sea Race. Right from the early days personalities such as Germany's Herbert Von Karajan, famous orchestra conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philarmoniker, competing with his maxi Helisara IV. Later came Marvin Greene Jr, CEO of Reeves Communications Corporation and owner of the well known Nirvana (line honours in 1982) and Jim Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, whose Sagamore was back in 1999 to try and emulate the line honours she won in 1997.

THE COURSE RECORD

The course record was held by the San Francisco based, Robert McNeil on board his Maxi Turbo Sled Zephyrus IV when in 2000, he smashed the Course record which now stands at 64 hrs 49 mins 57 secs. Zephyrus IV is a Rechiel-Pugh design. In recent years, various maxis such as Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Maximus and Morning Glory have all tried to break this course record, but the wind Gods have never played along. Even the VOR winner, ABN AMro tried, but all failed in 2006.

However, George David came along on board Rambler in 2007 and demolished the course record established by Zephyrus IV in 2000. This now stands at 1 day, 23 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.

At A Glance - Middle Sea Race 2024

First held: 1968

Organising Authority: Royal Malta Yacht Club

Start

The 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 19 October 2024.

Grand Harbour, Valletta: seven separate starts, at 10-minute intervals, from 11:00 CEST Saturday, 21 October 2024

Start Line: between the Saluting Battery, Upper Barrakka Gardens (Valletta) and Fort St Angelo (Birgu)

Various vantage points all around the Grand Harbour, high up on the bastions or at water level. Harbour access for spectator boats is restricted during the period of the start.

Course

Set in the heart of the Mediterranean and is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It starts and finishes in Malta, passes two active volcanoes and takes in the deep azure waters surrounding Sicily, and the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as lonelier outposts of Pantelleria and Lampedusa, both closer to the African continent than Europe.

Length: 606 nautical miles (1,122km)

Outright Race Record: 33h 29m 28s, Argo, United States, Jason Carroll

Monohull Race Record: 40h 17m 50s, Comanche, Cayman Is, Mitch Booth

Main Trophies

Rolex Middle Sea Race Trophy – overall race winner under IRC Time Correction

Boccale de Mediterraneo – winner of ORC category

RLR Trophy – winner of monohull line honours

Captain Morgan Trophy – winner of multihull division on corrected time (MOCRA)

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