Issued by: Biz Events


That's why thousands of families flock to the Coca-Cola dome in Northriding every year, to visit the National Boat Show. Some are second or even third generation boating families, others quite new to it all and still more are there to find and buy their first boat. Yet, despite their differences, they share a love of water and wide-open spaces, good old-fashioned family values and the joy of socialising with like-minded people. Theirs is the outdoor leisure lifestyle that everybody admires and most people aspire to.

Wherever you fit into this picture, come indulge your passion for boating at the National Boat Show featuring Dive Expo (NBS) from 15 - 17 August 2008!

Or, as Greg Bennett, Chairman of the Boat Industry Association of Southern Africa (BIASA) so aptly puts it: “Somewhere in the market place is the right boat at the right price that will fit your needs and financial circumstance. So keep the dream alive, visit the National Boat Show with your family. You will not find any other event in South Africa, where you can see the variety and focus on boating products under one roof. It is by far the most exciting boat show in South Africa.”

Bennett says the allure of the outdoor leisure lifestyle lies in its ability to bring families together in the outdoors and describes the lifestyle as a great investment because: “It gets people outdoors, teaches them about our precious waterways and ecology, gets the kids to be active, doing things like waterskiing, and provides important stress relief.”

Enticing Offers at the National Boat Show

Among the multitude of reasons that NBS is so well-loved by boating folk, are the hosts of show specials, deals, discounts and promotions that exhibitors offer to the visitors to their expo stands.

Andre van Helsdingen of Twin Boats & Trailers, manufacturer of the silhouette range of powerboats and an NBS exhibitor agrees and adds this bit of good news: “Buyers are going to get the best boat deals ever at this year's show. NBS is always the best place to buy a boat because competition drives the prices down, but this year, dealers are so overstocked they will be cutting prices dramatically.”

Behind the surfeit of stock lies the reality of a tight economy, yet despite that, van Helsdingen says Twin Boats has just closed the book on two of its best sales months ever. He explains: “Of course it's a mixture of having the right stock at the right price, but it's also because people are realising that owning a boat and living the boating lifestyle is not as expensive as you might think.”

He illustrates: “When I started in this industry 12 years ago, a boat that sells for R130 000 today would have cost you R50 000. As a result, in those days you often heard people say ‘I can buy a house for that!' when they heard the price of a boat. That's no longer true however, because while you're getting a lot more boat for your money nowadays than you did a decade ago, thanks to major advancements in boat building and technology, relatively speaking you're paying a lot less for it.”

Van Helsdingen is himself a huge fan of the lifestyle aspect of boating, describing it as “a good clean, fun thing for families to do together, which keeps children out of the malls, off the streets and with their families, where they belong.”

You don't need to put the boating lifestyle under a microscope to discover why a 16-year old teenager would rather go boating with his or her family than hang out at the mall. Powerboating goes hand in hand with such fun activities as waterskiing, wakeboarding and tubing, and which friend wouldn't accept an invitation to spend a day or a weekend on the water?

Speaking of which, Water Toys is another exhibitor looking forward to NBS. The company sells a wide range of boating accessories, including bold and colourful ‘towables' among others. Based on this comment from the company's Roz Cronin, NBS visitors can expect to see some exciting new products launched again this year: “As far as the boating accessories market is concerned, the National boat show has proved to be an excellent platform for announcing and displaying our new range of Water Toys.”

Boating at its Best!

Leshzek Lotze, Marine Manager of Suzuki South Africa describes boats as the catalyst for the literal explosion in popularity of the outdoor lifestyle - driving enthusiasts to buy 4x4s to transport their boats and toys like quad bikes to add a fun new dimension to their play.

He adds: “A boat is a very family oriented thing, because everybody can jump on it. You can go waterskiing, fishing and do so much more. And if you're on a budget, there's still a boat for you. Sure, you want the biggest and fastest boat around, but if you're on a budget, rather start small and gradually build up to the boat you want, while living within your means.”

As he points out, you can have loads of fun even with a boat as small as Suzuki's Suzumar inflatable. With a small 5hp motor you can go fishing or cruise lagoons in it, but modify it a bit and you have a racing craft on your hands!

So What's In Store at NBS?

Many exhibitors are keeping their cards close to their chests at this stage of the game, but most are promising great deals and special offers and a good few new product launches besides!

Wearing his Yamaha cap, as Marine Director, Greg Bennett says Yamaha will be using the National Boat Show as a platform to show off a full house of new products, including boats designed to be towed by smaller cars, fuel efficient motors, adrenalin producing hi-tech Waverunners and imported pontoon, bass and waterski boats. As if that isn't already enough to convince you to visit Yamaha's expo stand, the company will also be launching a new Skeeter bass boat!

Commenting on the importance of the Gauteng boating market, he says: “Gauteng customers demand the latest technology and highest performance, which forces us to be highly competitive in terms of technology and service. It's an important market, which accounts for about 30% of our motor business and 30% of our boat business.”

Catamaran fans will be ecstatic to hear that Custom Marine will at last have its own stand at the show. Owner, Don Tait says his company will be offering special show deals and will be “the biggest exhibitor of the big sailing cats.” The company plans to show one of its smaller custom-built catamarans, a 24-footer, as well as one of the pontoon boats from its new pontoon range.

Tait adds: “Our expo stand will focus on the three main pillars of our business; the big sailing cats, the smaller power cats and our new pontoon range. While Gauteng is the ideal market for our power cats and pontoon boats, in particular, it's ironic that so many coastal enthusiasts travel all the way to Johannesburg to visit NBS to buy boats, each year. But that's because NBS is the biggest show of its kind.”

Agon Marine is a name that most boating enthusiasts aren't yet familiar with, but only because the company is waiting to launch itself at NBS! This new ski boat building company will be aiming its sleek and stylish boats at the upper segment of the leisure boating market, according to owner Peter Evans.

Evans says Agon will launch with two boats, a standard model with a 5-litre motor and a sports model with a 5.7 litre motor. Both boats will boast Mercury Marine stern drive motors and to celebrate its launch, Agon Marine will offer show visitors the sports model at the price of the standard model - an offer that equates to a free R50 000 upgrade!

Agon's new ski boats might be new to the market, but they will certainly be entering it with great credentials. The boats' exterior styling is done by the renowned Spanish company, BYD (Barcelona Yacht Design) and their moulds are made by a renowned local player in the automotive industry. Agon Marine is without a doubt a name that the industry will be watching closely in the future.

Target Gauteng - Destination National Boat Show

They come from far and wide, and in their droves, to show off their boats, accessories and related products to the huge inland audience of more than 30 000 visitors - an audience which, it must be said, is truly representative of the show's standing as ‘Africa's Biggest Boat & Leisure Show,' comprising as it does visitors from all over Africa and South Africa.

Says Ryan Hansen of KZN's Hansen Boatz & Toys, a company that sells used boats and accessories and manufactures the popular Ski-Vee fishing boat: “About 60 to 70% of our business comes from Gauteng and Mpumalanga. You can close a deal really quickly in Johannesburg - people know what they want and have the money to back their decision. It's a great market.”

Twin Boats's van Helsdingen agrees: “Most boats are sold in Gauteng and around 80 to 90% of our sales come from the province too. This is where the real money is spent and you can see that in the quality of NBS. You simply can't compare other boat shows to the National Boat Show - twice in a row, we've sold 50 boats per show, off our stand. That's a boat every 10 minutes and 33% of our total turnover for the year, sold on one show.”

He adds: “As a manufacturer, we have to stay on top of the game and the only way to do that is to visit all of the top boat shows around the world. We regularly visit the Miami show, the show in Dusseldorf and others, and I have no reservation in saying that NBS is the very best boat show of all.”

It's War - Wake Wars - Proudly Presented by the National Boat Show!

Says Melanie Warricker, Sales Manager of Biz Events, organisers of the National Boat Show: “Awesome news for Wakeboarding fans, is that the Wake Wars action is back this year, only much bigger and way more exciting than ever before! And this time, Wake Wars will also feature the first ever portable wakeboard trailer in the Southern hemisphere!”

The country's biggest names in wakeboarding will stun the crowds with their skills on this portable rig, at the National Boat Show. Adds Warricker: “Riders like Shaun Faccio, SA National and European Champion, Devon Nassif, two-time SA Champion and Damien Laird, Junior SA Champion will be towed by the biggest winch in South Africa and pulled over a 12m slider, while throwing the biggest tricks in the country.”

Get to the Show!

Heartening news from BIASA is that the association is in the process of negotiating a merger with CTBi (Cape Town Boatbuilding & Technology Initiative) to “create an organisation that will be better able to serve the boating industry and consumers in the future,” as Chairman, Bennett says.

In view of the tough economic climate we are currently enduring, Bennett adds these words of encouragement to NBS visitors, boating enthusiasts and the boating industry: “While SA is experiencing a difficult period in its economy, we wish to remind users that we have experienced many worse periods in the past, including the banning of boating, higher interest rates, severe droughts and petrol shortages. Yet, people's desire to go boating and experience the freedom and family fun that goes with it, have overridden all these problems.”

Come see the new boats, the latest toys, the greatest gadgets and goodies and check out the new technologies at the National Boat Show. Remember, you're not just buying the ability to take a boat onto the water and give it full throttle - thrilling as that is - you're buying a whole new life for you, your family and your friends.

Choose your accessories for this new life from an incredibly broad range of exhibitors, who represent the full scope of providers to the boating, scuba and leisure lifestyle. They include, among others:

Speed, racing and ski boats

Cruisers, fishing boats and deck boats

Yachts, motor yachts, sailboats

Sailing academy training

Engines, boat instruments and equipment

Jet skis and inflatables

Canoes and kayaks

Ski and wakeboard equipment

Kitesurfers and windsurfers

Water toys and paddle boats

Fishing equipment and tackle

Scuba diving gear and training schools

Outdoor accessories and equipment

Clubs and conservation centres

Outdoor travel destinations

Marinas & Property

Lastly, don't forget that NBS will include the Dive Expo. Scuba diving is a thrilling sport and the perfect complement to your boating and leisure lifestyle. Visit the Dive Expo exhibits and get a glimpse of why so many people are taking to the water to get their share of sun, sea, adventure and adrenalin, along with the opportunity to dive and explore extraordinary under water destinations around the globe. It's a thrill-a-minute, so don't miss it!

The National Boat Show takes place from 15 - 17 August 2008 at the Coca-Cola dome in Northriding. Visit www.nationalboatshow.co.za

Visit our PRESS OFFICE: Biz Events is a full-service event management company that is in the business of developing and executing events including management services and company owned events. - more....

[17 Jun 2008 17:04]

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