Sydney International Boat Show (August 2-7)

The Sydney International Boat Show (August 2-7) has open its doors at Darling Harbour to a festival of boating allied with excitement, education and entertainment throughout its six action-packed days. Organiser, the Boating Industry Association of NSW, has been working hard to make this show a memorable one, is it marks the 40th staging of Australia’s largest recreational boating exhibition.

Sponsored by Club Marine Insurance and NSW Maritime, this year’s show offers an extravaganza of attractions at every turn.

The association has engaged dot com companies Sail-World and Powerboat-World to coordinate a range of guest speakers for the Strictly Sail and Better Boating Workshop stages, and these alone look worth the price of admission.

Guest speakers will present a range of topics in 20 minute segments, many supported by spectacular video footage of events from the world of sail and power.

Among the ‘must see’ presentations will be that from Luke Durman and Ross Willaton, driver and throttleman of the massive offshore racer ‘Simrad’.

Durman and Willaton were the 2006 Australian Class 1 offshore champions and the audience will thrill to the ‘white knuckle action’ in the video of the thundering powerboats, boasting in excess of 2000 horsepower.

Equally thrilling, the world of 18-footer skiff racing will be unveiled when top ‘skiffies’ Micah Lane and Jack McCartney take to the stage.

Offshore yachting demands stringent safety procedures and outlining these will be Gary Schipper, whose survival skills were tested to the limit when he was washed overboard during the tragic 1998 Sydney-Hobart blue water classic.

No doubt a star attraction for red blooded males will come during the presentation by Australia’s world water ski race champions Ann Proctor and Jason Walmsley; they will be joined on stage by none other than top skier and fellow Australian team member, Lauren Eagle, recently crowned Miss Teen Universe.

Tony Mowbray, round-the-world yachtsman and artic adventurer will reveal his exciting life while Stephen Milne, from The Riviera Group, will speak on the world of powerboat cruising.

“The entire presentation of the 2007 Sydney International Boat Show is aimed at entertaining and educating our visitors,” Domenic Genua, marketing and event manager for the Boating Industry Association explained.

“Research we have undertaken has revealed to us that it is what show visitors expect to find and we have pulled out all stops to deliver.”

Daily fashion parades by Musto, the often humorous and always educational Boat Building Competition (staged on the Saturday of the show) and the longest serving attraction (and one of its most popular!) at the show, the Yamaha Fishing Clinic will add to the show’s fantastic content.

As always is the case, from an exhibitor’s viewpoint, the 2007 Sydney International Boat Show is completely sold out.

More than 300 exhibitors will be on hand to show off the latest and the greatest from the Australian and the worldwide marine industry.

The six halls of the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre will be packed to the proverbial rafters with boats, marine engines, fishing tackle, water ski and scuba equipment, marine electronics and general boating accessories.

On the placid waters of adjoining Cockle Bay, a record number of luxury craft, power and sail, will make their home on the largest marina ever built specifically for a boat show in Australia.

Among the 300 craft on display will be ‘superyachts’ retailing at prices that would make a Sydney waterfront home seem highly affordable.

Must see opportunities among the boat displays will include the first NSW appearance of some of the recent winners in the Australian Marine Awards, incorporating the 07/08 Boats of the Year, massive displays of the stunning UK-built Sunseeker, Princess and Fairline motor yachts and sportboats, the imposing display hosted by The Riviera Group and the world release of industry legend Bill Barry-Cotter’s awesome battlewagon, the Maritimo 550.

While there may be no shortage of highly priced craft on display, the Sydney International Boat Show prides itself on displaying something to suit all budgets.

From canoes and kayaks, inflatables to the popular ‘tinnie’, they’ll all be there at the largest recreational boating exhibition south of the equator.

The Sydney International Boat Show will open daily at 10am; halls within the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre will remain open each day until 8pm, but operations on the floating marina will cease at 6pm.

Admission charges are $18 (single adult), $42 (family ticket admitting two adults and up to three children aged 6-17 years), $16 (Seniors Card holders), $12 (Pensioners) and $10 (children aged 6-17 years).

Children under 5-years admitted free.

Source: Sydney Boat Show