Strictly Sail Pacific® a great success

by Kevin Murphy on 7 May 2008 At the close of Strictly Sail Pacific, the largest sailboat show on the West Coast that ran April 16-20 at Oakland's Jack London Square, boats and equipment were not the only items exhibitors packed up to take home: many were leaving with orders and sales leads that exceeded their expectations for this springtime show on San Francisco Bay.

'On a scale of 1 to 10, this show was a 9 and a half,' said Hans Bernwall of Scanmar International (Richmond, Calif.). Bernwall's customers are bluewater cruising sailors looking for self-steering systems for their boats. The strong sales response Bernwall found at Strictly Sail Pacific, which was 3.5 times what he sold at last year's show, was proof of a sentiment many exhibitors echoed this year: serious sailors looking to purchase product made a point to travel to this show.

The 12th Annual Strictly Sail Pacific drew over 200 exhibitors and some 70 boats—from small trailerable dinghies to the Tayana 54, a bluewater cruiser that made its world debut at the show. This year, with Jack London Square in the throes of a major expansion, the layout of the show was modified to include two large tents and a number of smaller tents located throughout Jack London Square. The in-water section of the show was not affected by the construction.

'Exhibitors and attendees seemed to like the new layout,' said Kevin Murphy, Sail America’s national show manager. 'The outside tents created a festival atmosphere and attendees liked the proximity of the exhibitors to the local restaurants and shops.'

With over 13,000 showgoers, attendance was down by roughly 15% compared to the gate for 2007, but many exhibitors echoed the sentiment that a smaller gate did not impact the quality of the crowd.

'This year's show drew quality potential buyers, and it exceeded our expectations,' said Dave Moore, owner of Cruising Yachts, Inc. (Alameda, Calif.), one of the show's largest vendors with a fleet of 13 boats in the in-water section. Cruising Yachts showcased boats from Hunter, Jeanneau, and Caliber, ranging from 31 to 49 feet, of which 6 were sold at the show.

'This was one of our best shows,' said Alex Harrison of Hanse Yachts US (Annapolis, Md.). 'The customers were there—the ones who are serious about buying boats.' Hanse Yachts had three different boats ranging 35 to 54 feet in length in the in-water section of the show. At the time of going to press, Harrison was confident that five potential sales will likely to result from exhibiting at Strictly Sail Pacific.

Butch Florey, president and CEO of Tradewinds Sailing School and Club, found the smaller footprint a festive setting for this five-day happening—and that upbeat atmosphere matched strong sales results for this Point Richmond (Calif.) company.

In preparing for the show, Tradewinds did an aggressive marketing campaign to its own students and members, finding that some 35% of those contacted attended Strictly Sail Pacific. The company also put a proactive marketing campaign into gear this year, attending a number of boat shows, seminars, and street fairs, as well as targeting women sailors. Put together, all those elements made this year's Strictly Sail Pacific 'a great show for us,' said Florey.

Show organizer Sail America will bring Strictly Sail Pacific back to Oakland's Jack London Square in 2009. 'Plans are already in place to work closely with Jack London Square and the Port of Oakland to create additional exhibit space for next year's show,' said Murphy.

Although Sail America plans to keep the show at Jack London Square for the foreseeable future, the organization will continue to consider new locations for the show's long-term future.

About Sail America

Sail America is the trade association for the US sailing industry and plays a vital role for all companies that provide sailing-related products and services. Established in 1990 by members of the US sailing industry, Sail America’s mission is to promote the health and growth of SAILING.

In 2008, Sail America produced four of the country’s best sailboat shows—Strictly Sail Chicago, Strictly Sail Miami, Strictly Sail Pacific, and Strictly Sail St. Pete—as well as SailFest events at NMMA’s Baltimore Boat Show and Virginia In-Water Boat Expo.

In addition to running Strictly Sail Boat Shows and SailFests, Sail America promotes the sailing lifestyle, introduces thousands of new people to sailing, distributes industry and market information, provides valuable business tools and education, and supports industry-wide initiatives such as Discover Sailing and Grow Boating. Sail America members have access to cost-saving affinity programs and receive discounted space rates at all Sail America–owned shows.