Singapore Yacht Show 2018: all wrapped up, with a big bow on top
by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia 17 Apr 2018 15:32 AEST
Singapore's One°15 Marina. Looking forward to the Singapore Yachting Festival 2023ting © Guy Nowell
After four days of pretty much premier weather at Asia’s premier yacht show, the party got a little damp at 5.00pm on Sunday, with heavy rain that chased everyone into the onshore pavilion or anywhere else that offered some shelter. But it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good: “Please, come aboard this 68ft motoryacht. Would you like to buy it? Have a glass of wine and we’ll wait for the rain to stop.”
But really it didn’t matter. The footfall on the docks as of Saturday afternoon was greater than anything we have seen at the Singapore Yacht Show over the last seven editions, and all the way through the four days brokers were saying that the ‘quality’ was good. Yachts are fairly expensive things, so it doesn’t take a great many sales to make a dealer or a broker happy. One is good, but two is always better. The fact is that many ‘sales’ announced at boat shows are in fact the final ink in a process that may have taken several months. There are very few occasions when the dealer says sign here, here and here, and hands over the keys for the client to drive away immediately.
But, yes, at the end of the day it’s all about selling boats. According to the buzz on the docks, in the bar, and in the VIP Lounge, this was the case at this year’s Singapore Yacht Show 2018. Simpson Marine, the biggest exhibitor at the show with 11 yachts, sold a Lagoon 50 on the second day of the show. Pontoon whispers said that there were three more sales in process. Knowing Simpson - probably the best-known yacht broker in Asia - there won’t be any announcements until the paper work is done and the ink is dry. But he was smiling.
Princess Yachts celebrated the sale of a Princess 68 with an impromptu party on board which featured Marketing Director Kiran Haslam on guitar, and singing with the Show’s peripatetic roving band that kept the party atmosphere on the docks rocking.
You hear a lot of complaints at boat shows, from both visitors and exhibitors. It’s too hot. It’s too wet. The berths are too expensive. Not enough visitors. Too many tyre-kickers. And so it goes on. However, we are happy to report that we didn’t hear any complaints at the end of the event this year – not in the eM Bar (which has become the de facto watering hole for the Singapore Yacht Show), not along the docks, not at the Exhibitors’ Closing Party, and not at the floating Boaters’ Bar either. The mood and the backchat was all positive, with many reps remarking something along the lines of “there are lots of potential owners out there, and we just need to get them on to yachts so that they fall in love with the boating lifestyle.”
The Ferrari Owners Club arrived en masse in the late afternoon, just in time for a heavenly car wash. The rain dampened play, but it wasn’t a wash-out, as the food stalls along the promenade continued doing good business, and the VIP Lounge saw plenty of custom as did the East and West Pavilions where some of the top names in the superyacht industry had stands.
Michael Breman of Lürssen said, “We continue to believe that Singapore is an important place to maintain a brand presence; it’s the gateway to the Asian market.” Lürssen build some of the very biggest superyachts in the world, and their presence at SYS is a litmus test for the importance of the show. Rose Damen, representing the Dutch shipyards of Damen and Amels, was back at the show for the third year in a row. Damen operates more than 32 shipyards, repair yards and related companies worldwide, and builds a wide range of tugs, workboats, patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, offshore support vessels and oil-spill response vessels – while Amels is the superyacht arm of the company. “La Familia (55m) was launched by Amels in 2015, and it is wonderful to have this fabulous superyacht here at the show to show to interested clients.” No doubt.
Of course, the Singapore Yacht Show was not restricted to big sea-going beauties like La Familia. The show tries very hard to offer for public consumption a full range of boats from skiboats and day boats upwards. The Sunreef Open 40, looking like something flat-packed by Ikea, was parked just across from the Floating Leisure Hub, a dedicated area for boating enthusiasts and watersports lovers. Located in the heart of the Show, this was a floating village packed with the latest leisure and recreational watercraft, and featuring a bumper schedule of live demonstrations, exciting trials, prize give-aways, retail space and evening networking events. The Interactive Demo on Demand - SUP, kayaking, fishing simulator, and boating basics was a major draw card for visitors.
Add in a Wine Festival, a Gin Festival, and a Cigars & Whisky presentation, and SYS successfully featured not only boats, but also the ancillary delights that go with boating in general. Proof, if proof were needed, that a yacht show can be all things to all people, and a demonstration of the notion that boating and yachting activities are simply the catalyst at the centre of a ‘lifestyle’.
“We’ll be back,” was what we were hearing on Closing Night from the exhibitors and participants of the Singapore Yacht Show 2018. We will be, too, in order to keep tabs on the further development of a leisure industry that is uniquely suited to this part of the world.
www.singaporeyachtshow.com