News of the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis from October 6-10 isn’t really news anymore, because it’s been held here since 1969 and was the first show of its type in the world.
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What may, in fact, be news for everyone is that this year’s show will be the largest since 2008 when the economy went for its own boat metaphor without the proverbial paddle.
“We don’t use the negative economy terminology at all in our world,” United States Yacht Shows, the company who presents the Sailboat and Powerboat shows, General Manager Paul Jacobs said. “While other boat shows are closing down, we’re getting stronger.”
So strong, in fact, that a number of new models are debuting at the U.S. Sailboat Show this year, and while that’s not unusual in itself, the volume of new product lines surprises even Paul Jacobs.
“We’re going to see more than 20 new models this year,” Jacobs said, “because the industry has selected this time and this location to get their boat lines displayed.”
After more than 40 years putting on the sister Sail- and Powerboat shows, the USYS has things pretty much smoothed out in terms of logistics.
Parking is usually a concern, and naturally so, but this year is one of “those years.” The Navy will have a home football game on Saturday precluding the boat show’s usual use of their lots. Parking instead will be offered off Riva Road at the high school and the Board of Education lots, Jacobs said. Shuttle busses will be running throughout the show hours of 10-6 or 6:30 (depending on the day) ferrying people to and from the show.
To ensure everyone sees what they want to during the day, Jacobs suggests people buy their tickets online which is possible through their website. Complete schedules are also available online.
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“The big hint I have for everyone who may not have been here before is we don’t serve food inside the show although there are a number of great non-profits outside who will be selling food. Re-entry is no problem because everyone gets wristbanded as they enter,” he said.
Besides the boats, a number of related seminars will be taking place on a variety of nautical themes. If you want to learn about sailing or talk to famous sailors, this is the place to do it,” Jacobs said.
The new part of the U.S. Sailboat show is that after 40 years all the kinks that had to be worked out have been worked out. It’s as smooth as sailing gets on dry land.
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