Mandurah Boat Show ready to break record

by Bob Wonders on 4 Oct 2007 The 2007 Club Marine Mandurah Boat Show (October 11-14), with more than 600 vessels on display, among them some of the best-known names in Australian boating, is determined this year’s show will top its previous best gate. Last year, 27,116 passed through the gate and show director Peter Woods is confident the 2007 edition will top that.

“We’ve added an extra half-day to the show, which has grown every year of its 14-year existence,” he said.

“It started out as a regional show run by the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club, but in the last seven-years it has grown to the extent that it trails only Sydney and Sanctuary Cove in size.

“This year, we will have 150 boats on the marina and a further 450-plus on the 30,000 square-metre hard stand, which is larger than that of Sanctuary Cove’s hard-stand area,” he added.

The big names on the east coast will be among those heading west, with The Riviera Group, Maritimo and Seawind Catamarans joining other illustrious names like Bertram, Princess, Bavaria, Fairline, Boston Whaler, Sunseeker, Sea Ray and Salthouse.

Large displays of boating accessories, fishing tackle, scuba diving equipment, tourism experts, lifestyle products and camping gear will feature in marquees erected for the show.

One display sure to attract attention will be the 14,000-litre Mercury Aquatank, the “headline act” for a series of fishing expos hosted by local experts.

The show will open to the public at 12 noon on Thursday, October 11, through to 6pm. A trade and media preview will be staged between 10am and noon.

Hours for the Friday and Saturday have been set at 9am to 6pm, with the Sunday session opening also at 9am, but operations will cease an hour earlier at 5pm.

Admission charges are $36 (family ticket admitting two adults and up to three children), $16 (single adults), $13 (pensioners, students and seniors) and $9 (children 5-15 years).

Show visitors can no access the show via new pedestrian walkway, only a 10 minute stroll from Mandurah town centre.

Free shuttle buses will operate from Allnutt Reserve, while for motorists there is limited parking at the marina, in the town centre or at the Performing Arts Centre 10 minutes walk from the main entrance.

For further public transport options go to www.transperth.wa.gov.au

The Western Australian Government has spent more than $200 million on the Mandurah Ocean Marina, which is rapidly becoming the most glamorous residential and recreational area on the WA coast.

Hotels, boutiques, restaurants and apartments retailing at well over the million dollar mark are some of the areas attractions.

Only an hour’s drive south from Perth, Mandurah is served by bus lines and will shortly have rail transport as well.