2012 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show wrap

Organisers say that attendance for the four days of the Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show (SCIBS) was 37,094, up 1.6 per cent on last year. But importantly, out in force were genuine buyers.

Exhibitors say they are very happy and in many cases "blown away" by their results.

Brett Thurley at Pacific Motor Yachts, dealer for Clipper, Jeanneau and Prestige, was happy to report he sold boats at the show. "But I gauge a boat show on response on the Monday. Sometimes people are really keen on the weekend, then pull back the week after. But we have been busy doing sea trails and the leads we have are serious.”

Thurley continued: "We ramped up our effort this year to have the largest presence on the water and launch Jeanneau and Prestige. The response and rewards were beyond our expectations."

John Hogan, CEO at Superior Jetties labelled this year’s event "the best we’ve ever done".

"We increased our efforts this year. We launched new products and that combined excitement turned in to real sales, not just leads. We do have more than 100 leads, but for us, we signed 14 contracts, including the biggest lift in the Sunstream range that was launched at the show."

Integrity’s Brett Flanagan is similarly happy with this year’s results: "We sold four boats, all our stock boats... and sold another one yesterday afternoon, which is under construction."

From Palm Beach Motor Yachts, Mark Richards stated: "We had a fantastic show! I am really happy. A lot of people had been negative about it, but it went well for us. We have two sea trials today and another one tomorrow. We had people from New Zealand and interstate."

Josh Metz, dealership director at Fairline Queensland said the show was successful for the UK brand.

"We sold the Fairline Targa 58, the newly-delivered model for this show. We are working on another three to four, which is fantastic! For us it was excellent."

Dani Limback, from Chaparral Australia said the show was surprisingly strong, with interest on the bigger boats and wake boats: "We’re really happy. We have excellent leads. We are organising sea trials from now until Sunday and we have more than a dozen of those so far."

The new Maritimo 58 was one of the busiest boats on show and according to feedback, visitors were impressed. Likewise with the new Mustang 43. "We’ve spent a lot of time on its development, so it was good to hear the positive feedback," said Maritimo’s Luke Durman.

Will Sangster, Director of Sales at Mercury Marine commented on the enquiry from genuine customers. "From our stand point, that’s important -- quality over quantity. The people we saw were absolutely genuine and in the market."

Launching its innovative 950, Seawind sales were very strong. "We sold two 950s and one of the new 1000XL2," said marketing manager Brent Vaughan. "I think we will have at least one more sale this week, as well as three or so strong leads in coming weeks.

Mark Elkington from Multihull Solutions referred to SCIBS as: "The best multihull show in Australia"

"We secured three contracts on boats at the show and are undertaking sea trials and quotes, hoping to get a similar volume of orders," Elkington added.

Sue Thomson, Boat Show General Manager said: "It’s pleasing to hear exhibitors had a great show. We worked hard ramping up marketing and promotion this year and it’s very rewarding when exhibitors leave the show with these kinds of results. Planning is already underway for the 25th Anniversary show next year."

Winson Chow, Mulpha Chief Operating Officer said: "Mulpha congratulates exhibitors on their success. As we head towards the significant milestone of the 25th Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, 23-26 May 2013, we are looking forward to an even stronger event. It is excellent to cap off this year’s show with such positive results."