COMMENT
What’s next? Will the show ever go on?
T
he Monaco Yacht Show was the first to fall on its sword. After a brave bout of sabre rattling and an attempt to delude the industry that it was not all about the money and suggesting the show was going to be not for profit the organisers took the only sensible way out and called it off. They did so with their ears ringing from the sound boxing given to them by the executives at SYBAss and LYBRA who were angry that their requests for reform had not been listened to.
The Yachting Festival at Cannes was even more ballsey and pushed on regardless of public outcry and calls from major shipyards and boat builders to call
it
off. When eventually they too caved in, cancelling with the start date just three weeks away, they started to blame others for the catastrophe. “Not our fault,” they shouted, “Don’t look to us for a refund!” they insinuated, pointing their finger at FIN, the Federation des Industries Nautiques, at whose door they firmly planted the blame.
What they, and the organisers of Monaco, failed to grasp was that we, the public simply did not want and darn-right refused, to attend the show and be herded into “waiting at the gates” type compounds while some visitors were allowed to look at yachts and then be allowed to leave that compound on a very strict one out one in process.
The Southampton Boat Show wisely cancelled their annual jamboree. Then, using weasel wordage, asking journalists like me to freely support a not for profit industry event, they announced they would hold Boats 2020; a boat show on the very same venue taking place over exactly the same dates as had previously been allocated to the Southampton Boat show.
In March Lesley Robinson, the CEO of British Marine said, “The world is in an
Now that this year’s major and more important yacht shows have been cancelled Michael Howorth looks at the impact Covid-19 has had on the superyacht event calendar and wonders: What is next?
unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and public health is everyone’s priority. An event of this size and format is simply not possible this year.” Less than two months later, the very same man was saying, “I am delighted that we have been able to make Boat 2020 happen, at a time when so many other events have been cancelled.” But this show was also cancelled barely 24 hours before the doors were due to open.
So with so much chopping and changing around the world, will the boat show calendar ever recover? The truth is the industry has survived without them and in one or two cases has even thrived in their absence. Many of those cajoled each year into renting very expensive plots of real estate and erecting lavish and costly display stands have been delighted they were not called upon to attend.
In years gone by these exhibitors had been bullied (some would say blackmailed) into taking space on the basis that if they were not prepared to support the show each and every year they would be demoted in the rankings and issued with an inferior site next time they did apply to display their wares.
Boat show organisers fostered the concept that; if designer A was not on his usual stand at this years show then that designer was clearly on his way out of favour and definitely was in financial trouble facing ruin to the point he could not afford the stand. No one will really mourn if boat shows have had a financial kicking this year and most will claim they had it coming.
So, as we look across the pond to the USA, I am forced to ask what next? What will happen in the Covid ridden state of Florida? FLIBS is putting on a face every bit as brave as did Cannes and look what happened to them!
ONBOARD | AUTUMN 2020 | 7
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