2011 London International Boat Show

Not the Largest Boat Show on Earth, but Plenty Impressive

By Darla Jean Hueske

The crisp London air nipped at our noses as we descended to the tube station eagerly making our way to opening day of the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show. As we arrived into the ExCel conference centre, we quickly realized that seeing everything at this show would be impossible. We spent three entire days at the Show and still didn’t see everything.

Spilling over several indoor exhibit halls and an outdoor marina, on display were more than 1,000 boats ranging from kayaks and dinghies to sailboats and luxurious superyachts. All available to admire, board, and purchase.

It was breathtaking to walk up a grand staircase to peak at superyachts from Sunseeker, some of which cost about £12 million (about 113 million EGP). Another gorgeous superyacht making its world debut at the Show, was the largest boat to ever be displayed inside the halls of the ExCeL centre. At 100 tonnes, the Princess 32 metre was the heaviest boat ever lifted into the Show. Not only was it overwhelming to see these superyachts out of water to realize the scale, but then to turn about and see hundreds of other boats of various sizes displayed far into the distance.

After experiencing the eye candy, it was time to bring our attention to sailing boats. Boarding innovative lines from Beneteau and Jeanneau, we inspected sailboats in sizes up to 16 metres. We marveled at the ingenuity of design from other companies such as Swallow and Hawk. We spent plenty of time with Rick Redding of Topper Boats, discussing ways to promote sailing in Egypt. There are now 16 Topper Topaz boats at Dome Marina Sailing Centre all privately owned and five being used in the sailing school for instruction. Topper is active worldwide promoting sailing along with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to get more youth involved in sailing.

The Show also offered more than 500 exhibitors displaying products, equipment, clothing and sailing schools and holidays. Also, experts from the sailing and boating world were at hand to give presentations from extreme sailing to fitness. We enjoyed watching a cruising chute demonstration. Yes, the hall was that large.

For those who didn’t mind getting a bit wet, there was a dedicated water sports area with a pool measuring 70m by 24m. Every day there were demonstrations of stand-up paddle boarding, wakeboarding, windsurfing, kite surfing, dinghy sailing, canoeing and kayaking, as well as model yacht racing. Spectators were invited to try them all, as well as participate in a canoe polo championship.

But the Show was not just about water activities: it was combined with two others, the Outdoors Show, Europe’s largest Show for outdoor pursuits and the London Bike Show.

The 2011 London International Boat Show took place 7 to 15 January, combined incredible boats and exciting water activities. The Show attracted 109,778 visitors from all over the country and abroad. Together with the Outdoors Show & The London Bike Show, the total combined attendance number of visitors to ExCeL and all three shows is 140,164.

BIO:

Darla Hueske and David Megalli, husband and wife team are avid sailors and have been living in Cairo, Egypt since 2007. In 2009, David launched Dome Marina Sailing Centre at Marina Wadi el Dome, Egypt’s first sailing school. Darla is a freelance photographer and graphic designer.

Proud to Represent Egypt at the London Boat Show