More than 112,000 people attended the 2014 PSP Southampton Boat Show, which drew to a close on Sunday 21 September.

Glorious weather and an improving economy boosted this year’s event, which had been revamped to provide a real festival of boating.

Strong sales have been reported throughout the whole duration of the 10-day show, with the very first sale of a boat being made by 10.30am on the opening day.

Many companies reported equalling last year’s total sales by mid week this year.

Managing director for National Boat Shows, Murray Ellis said: ‘The PSP Southampton Boat Show 2014 has been a great success.

‘More than 10,000 visitors got out on the water, families enjoyed a ride on the Boat Show Eye and boaters bought everything from canoes to multi million pound yachts.

‘The weather has been glorious and spirits have been high, once again confirming the PSP Southampton Boat Show as one of the world’s leading boat shows.’

Highlights

The show kicked off in style on the first day with TV star Matt Baker arriving on board one of the feature boats, the tall ship Phoenix, accompanied by Iain Percy OBE and ambassadors from the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation.

Mr Ellis added: ‘We’ve been delighted to have the Foundation as the Show’s official charity and so pleased to be able to join in with the worldwide Bart’s Bash event on the Show’s final day.’

Exhibitor success stories

Landau UK managing director Ben Metcalfe said: ‘We have found the show much more positive than last year and our new stand location has been excellent.

‘We met last year’s figures by day seven of the show and hope to bring up to £1.6million into the business over the full course of the event. It’s a show we will continue to do.

‘It’s very positive for the marine industry and it’s good for the local area.

‘A contract to carry out maintenance and repair work to military boats, confirmed at show, will result in taking on up to 19 new engineers and office staff.’

SeaSure Ltd managing director Graham Brown said: ‘It has been a cracking show for us. We have some of the most expensive products with everything being custom made and of the highest quality, yet we have sold every model on display with orders for everything seen on our stand…This is our first time at PSP Southampton Boat Show and it has exceeded all our expectations.

‘The level of interest, from both new and returning customers, for British hand-built products is high with visitors appreciating quality…With one of our main products (Shaefer Boom Furling) we have more enquires in the first two days than in the last two years.

‘What is great about the show is that visitors can appreciate quality by touching and seeing it in real life.’

Flexisail managing director Richard Pierpoint said: ‘It has been a positive show for us and we are 50% up on last year.

‘We have seen a resurrection in boating and exhibiting at PSP Southampton Boat Show is a great way to get us in front of the public.

‘Exhibiting is such a valuable force of marketing as today people like to see the product. Being on the Marina means people can get onboard the boat and really imagine what it will be like to own it for themselves.

‘PSP Southampton Boat Show and the London Boat Show are the only two shows we do.’

Time Inc UK marketing manager, Richard Shead said: ‘It’s been an exceptionally good show. Subscriptions are up more than 30% across the titles.

He added: ‘It’s been great to see and meet a new audience, visitors have come to the show as novices but clearly been so inspired they have gone home as readers.’

Fairline Boats commercial director, Stuart McCullough: ‘Fairline has enjoyed another great show in Southampton this year, with lots of enthusiasm for the brand.

‘We have seen a steady stream of orders throughout the show and our new 48ft range has continued to prove especially popular with visitors.

‘Following on from a very successful Cannes Yachting Festival, we are delighted with the results we have seen. The PSP Southampton Boat Show is an important event for us and the beautiful weather has made being here especially enjoyable this year.

‘We are now gearing up for the London Boat Show and looking forward to an exciting year ahead for Fairline.’

MDL Marinas, operations and marketing director, Dean Smith said: ‘We have had a fantastic show. Berthing enquiries are up 15% in comparison to last year, and we welcomed thousands of berth holders from our network of marinas to the show.

‘It has been a great platform for us to really explain the benefits of Freedom Berthing, which has seen significant interest and is gaining real traction.’

Show events

A total of 55 five apprentices were celebrated at the British Marine Federation ( BMF) graduation event, receiving their certificates from Sir Ben Ainslie.

Eight MPs visited members from their constituency at the show with Penny Mordaunt MP (Portsmouth North) – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Coastal Communities Minister) also attending the event.

Around 400 meetings took place at the BMF’s Meet the Buyer event enabling new business opportunities.

Hayley James, head of member relations at British Marine Federation said: “From a membership perspective the PSP Southampton Boat Show has been fantastic, we’ve signed up double the number of members we did last year and we’ve got some great leads to follow up on.

‘But the Show isn’t just a recruitment drive for the BMF, it is a chance to meet existing members and build relationships to ultimately deliver better value to our strong membership of over 1550.

‘It’s one of the best trade shows in the world, within a consumer show.”

London Boat Show

Following the launch of 2015 Show and its new creative with its dramatic imagery, exhibitors have been signing up to take space at the event.

Beneteau, with its sailing yachts and outboard and inboard boats, is leading the way after a three-year absence.

Jean Francois Lair, Beneteau export manager, said: ‘Over the last 10 days at Southampton, we have clearly noticed an uplift in the market.

‘The sales figures are up, and all our dealers are reporting a stronger interest compared to last year.

‘In this improved market, we are pleased to announce that Beneteau will return to the London Boat Show in January 2015.

‘We will be strongly represented with all our different products: sailing yachts, outboard and inboard boats, including the MC5, 2014 European Boat of the Year.’

The 2015 London Boat Show takes place from 9-18 January at ExCeL London.

Go to www.londonboatshow.com to see the teaser video and take the challenge to see if you are an adventurer, innovator or pioneer.

Pictures credited to: onEdition 2014