New releases at Gold Coast boat show and Marine Expo

The first major boat show in Australia for 2017, the new Gold Coast International Boat Show & Marine Expo will be held over three fun-filled days from March 17-19 at the Gold Coast Marine Precinct in Queensland.

The supporters of this hands-on family-orientated boat show, formerly the Gold Coast Marine Expo, are ensuring there will be plenty of new boat releases.

Event & Marketing Manager Emma Brown says there will be more than 600 boats on display, in excess of 230 exhibitors, plus factory tours, live entertainment and interactive family demonstrations every 15 minutes across two marinas and a giant 3km display circuit.

"You’ll need more than one day to experience and enjoy everything boating on offer," Mrs Brown says.

"The growing number of boat and product premieres – in addition to record exhibitor demand for additional display space both on the water and on land – is a strong indication of how much there will be to see and do.

"Already over 80 per cent of exhibitor space is sold or reserved, and more world-leading marine businesses and brands are coming onboard every day in the countdown to the boat show."

FULL RANGE OF RELEASES
A Marlow 53 will be among the Australian luxury-boat premieres. The pilothouse passage maker features three luxury cabins, including a full-beam king-sized master suite, crew quarters, utility room, hydraulic swim platform and a luxurious fit-out and finish. The boat has a joystick docking system supplied by Cummins and a Seakeeper Gyro Stabilisation system.

Voyager Catamarans has put a hardtop on its V625 SportFish. The high volume power cat has been popular due to its stand-up bathroom and twin single bunks that convert to a full king-sized berth. A new-generation planing hull with greater forward buoyancy and wave riding capabilities is said to improve sea handling and stability on the trailerable cat designed for getaways.

In the gear department, AMI Marine will have new Sidepower PPC520 and PPC820 proportional thruster controllers; a new LTM-500 Modular Watermaker from Parker that provides 79L per hour: and a trick MIU-L10 underwater lighting solution for small boats up to 8m.

All Marine Spares will be debuting the WASPcam 9906 adventure action-sports camera. The waterproof high-definition cameras and accessories have wireless wrist remotes and smartphone connectivity.

Southport Yacht Club’s qualified instructors will be on hand to help families experience the thrill of sailing. These lessons are a great introduction to the sport and absolutely no experience is required. Lessons, which last 30 minutes, will be held at 10am and 3pm daily.

The event organisers say the growing list of major first-releases spans the full boating spectrum – everything from luxury yachts to tenders, kayaks to jet skis, engines and accessories to fishing equipment.

The Gold Coast Marine Expo moved to March 2017 from November and renamed itself with Boating Industry Association backing. More at gcboatshow.com.au.