Which boats are exhibited at the Paris Boat Show?
In proportion, there are 1/3 sailboats and 2/3 motorboats. This is not a reflection of the market, since it is more like 80% motor boats and 20% sailboats. This proves that the Nautic is very important for the sailing market.
What's new this year at the show?
This year, there are many new features. First of all, the reorganization of the sectors in the halls to make the show more readable for the visitors. From now on, there are 3 distinct areas:
- Sailing and Tourism in Hall 1, we have removed the semi-rigids from this area
- Equipment in Hall 2.1, here there are no changes
- Motorboating in Hall 2.2 and 4. Here we find motorboats, jet-skis, VNM (Nautical Motor Vehicle), but also semi-rigid, which were spread throughout the halls.
Today, the Paris Boat Show has a strong image of sailing, yet more motor boats are presented. As a result, we have emphasized animations in this sector, with the exhibition of old boats and post-war boats like the Riva.
We will also have a "pocket box", a machine for surfing or wakeboarding.
Finally, we also find all the animations that make the Nautic the great meeting of the world of boating:
- The stand-up paddle race the 500 seats for this event were booked in 26 minutes! Last year, the 400 places were gone in half a day. I think it will be difficult to beat the record.
- The Nautic stage with about fifty events throughout the show, including the Mini Transat prize-giving ceremony, the election of the Sailing Boat of the Year, the Motor Boat of the Year, and the Sailor of the Year with the Day of Champions. We will also have a day dedicated to the environment (in parallel with the COP 21). Most of the days are themed.
What is the trend this year?
The trend, which started several years ago, is to make sailing easier. The boats are very easy to operate, with small crews or only a few people who know how to sail on board.
Environmental protection is also developing a lot, with engines that have very high environmental standards (reduced CO2 emissions, noiseâeuros¦). Ãa goes in a very good direction.
The weight of the boats has also been reduced, which reduces fuel consumption and thus preserves the environment.
Finally, the equipment, for the electronic part, which is embedded, connected by WiFi or Bluetooth as the wind vane which is connected with the tide and currents. We manage to have powerful and easy to use tools. People are using more and more computers and on-board electronics has taken over from charts, sextantsâ?¦ Autopilots can now be synchronized with the wind and tides. And this is true on sailboats, as well as on motorboats.
The trend is also to increase the gliding part, such as canoeing, paddle, windsurfing or wakeboarding.
What is the specificity of the Nautic compared to the other major French boat shows?
We have a complementarity with Cannes even if we do not exhibit the same products. The Cannes Yachting Festival is more international, it is the largest European boat show, and presents very large boats. At the Nautic, the largest boat exhibited will be 23 m long.
At Ãeuros Paris, we have a large offer and many activities with meetings and presentations on the Scène du Nautic. This year, we will have a session on boat building, with speakers from the United States and Australia.
It is also the show where ocean and Olympic racers meet the most. France is a great nautical country with a great know-how.
Finally, the Paris Boat Show is the place to take stock of the year, the high mass of the nautical year. The new products of the 2015-2016 season are presented there, as well as previews.
If there was only one thing, on the boats side, and on the animation side, not to be missed this year?
As for the boats, I would advise visitors to discover the motor boats. You don't realize it, but it's very interesting to go around the motorboat hall and discover them. We have a lot of units, of all kinds, and just out of curiosity, even if you are not interested in them, it's worth seeing.
In terms of entertainment, I would say the Stand-up paddle race, the biggest race of the year in this sport. It is a real beautiful spectacle and a real beautiful human adventure. The departure is a little bit early (8 o'clock in front of the quays of the National Library of France (BNF)) but we can in these cases welcome them at the arrival, in front of the quays of Javel low.
Let's tackle a less cheerful subject, but the exhibition and the stand-up paddle race are still on despite the attacks?
For the show, we have no major doubts. We have put in place security features that we have refined to be as relevant as possible. There are going to be some constraints, but we decided to continue to do what was planned. The three points to respect were to have the approval of the prefecture, to protect the visitors and exhibitors and above all to show that we are still going ahead!
The first boats left on November 16. We had a rather quick reaction time, as soon as we knew that the prefecture authorized the "secured" demonstrations to continue.
