SYDNEY BOAT SHOW: 25th at Darling Harbour

As has been well documented, the 2013 Sydney International Boat Show (August 1-5) will celebrate its 25th and final exhibition at what has become its home since 1989, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour.

The site will undergo a billion-dollar redevelopment through 2014, ’15, and ’16, with the show returning fully to the site in 2017.

For those three years, the indoors component of the nation’s largest recreational boating exhibition will be on show at a specially-built interim facility at Glebe Island. It will be known as the Sydney Exhibition Centre. The facility will be accessible by road or ferry and will be located under the Anzac Bridge.

However, the always spectacular component of the Sydney International Boat Show, the specially built floating marina on Cockle Bay, remains the “home port” for the on-water displays.

However this year and as usual, the 2013 exhibition is a virtual sell-out as more than 300 exhibitors gather to show off their goods and services to what is always an adoring public. The halls of Darling Harbour will be packed with millions of dollars worth of boats, engines, electronics, and general boating equipment and associated accessories.

A sure fire attraction for the many visitors, and there could be anywhere from 70,000 to more than 80,000 of them, will be the MyBoatingLife.com.au Entertainment Precinct.

An interesting array of guest speakers has been confirmed for the stage.

Prominent among the speakers is well-known local skipper Sean Langman who, with his teenage son Pete and five of their mates have written their names into the record books with an astonishing world sailing speed record over the punishing route from Sydney to Hobart.

Katrina Ham, who is endeavouring to make it to the start of the Mini Transat will also be speaking.

There are also boating luminaries from both here and overseas who will provide a world of maritime entertainment during the show.

Along with the speakers, there are plenty of other attractions on hand, from daily Musto fashion parades to the boat building competition, cooking demonstrations to angling experts on stage and the grand final of the Berkley Evinrude Fishing Series, it’s all happening.

The Boat Show will trade each day 10.00am to 8.00pm in the halls and 10.00am to 6.00pm on the Cockle Bay Marina.

Admission charges are: $20 (single adult), $47 (family ticket admitting two adults and up to three children aged 6-17, $14.50 (pensioners), $18 (seniors), $44 (three day VIP pass) and $5 for admission after 5.00pm daily.

For further information visit the show’s website, www.sydneyboatshow.com.au.