Promising start for Brisbane's 50th

by Bob Wonders on 27 Aug 2010 The 50th Brisbane Boat Show has thrown open the doors at the city's convention centre and if early crowd indications can be taken as a guide, the exhibition could be on track for a bumper edition.

Show organiser and owner, Marine Queensland, certainly had the show ‘looking the part', with many exhibitors pulling out all stops with some spectacular displays.

Long before the doors opened at 10am (Thursday, August 26), intending show visitors estimated to number several hundred, were gathered outside waiting the official opening.

Of course, the success or failure of any major exhibition depends largely on the weekend, but to have queues waiting for the opening could only be seen as a good sign.

Exhibitor numbers did appear down on previous years, with the spacious lobby area, which runs the full length of the convention centre, looking relatively unused compared with earlier shows.

Inside the halls, however, it was right up to standard.

As I said, several exhibitors had gone to great lengths to stage impressive displays.

The Haines Marine Group, predominantly showing its range of Haines Signature boats and Suzuki engines, hosted a spectacular display, as did Honda Marine, Mercury Marine, Brisbane Yamaha and Club Marine.

All up, there were 101 exhibitors displaying their goods and services within the halls of the Brisbane Convention Centre, conveniently situated on the city's edge, only a block or two back from the meandering Brisbane River.

Exhibitors I spoke with were upbeat and positive, all expressing confidence following on from successful efforts at the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Sow (May) and the recent Sydney International Boat Show.

While it may well be the Brisbane exhibition, attendance from interstate showed there was Australia-wide interest in the 50th staging of the popular show.

Those who had made a considerable journey to attend included John Stav (JV Marine, Melbourne), Alan Steber (Stebercraft, Taree), Grainger McFarlane (Polycraft, Bundaberg), David Hazlett (Avante Marine, Sydney), Chris Schultz (Honda Marine, Melbourne) and Ken Evans (Ken Evans Consulting, Sydney).

A range of interesting attractions appealed to many of the early show visitors, with an array of ‘ancient' outboard engines, some dating back to 1916, and a display featuring two of the first-ever boats built by the legendary Nichols (Cruise Craft) and Whittley families.

They may have been ‘elderly' craft, but they still look pretty good.

A number of superbly renovated timber skiffs and sailing dinghies, all presented by the Wooden Boat Association of Queensland attracted plenty of admiration.

Other attractions within the show that drew plenty of interest included seafood cooking demonstrations by Club Marine's Bart Beek and the Invitational Bream Fishing Tournament, featuring teams of anglers delivering their catches to the fishing stage.

Of course, the ‘headline act' for the 2010 Brisbane Boat Show will come with the naming of the very fortunate show visitor named as winner of the major prize, a superb Cruise Craft 530 Explorer, complete with a 115hp Yamaha four-stroke outboard engine, trailer, safety gear and registration valued at $55,000.

It goes without saying that the winner will never forget the 2010 Brisbane Boat Show!

Marine Queensland events manager, Jason Plant, admitted tings have been ‘tough' for the industry in recent years, but was confident that water sports and outdoor hobbies were again high on the family agenda.

'We're here to present boating and the lifestyle it offers as an affordable option for all who love the great outdoors,' he said.

We'll be keep tabs on the show over the weekend and will present a full report on the 2010 edition of the exhibition next week.