SYDNEY BOAT SHOW: Here they come!

The piles have been driven in the puddle at Cockle Bay. The temporary marina has been bolted into place. And the signs have gone up around the city.

Yet the planning for the 48th Sydney International Boat Show (SIBS) has been going down in the backrooms and bunkers of the hundreds of exhibitors for months already.

New-boat orders were placed as far back as last year and now those much-anticipated new craft are being unloaded from the cargo ships at nearby ports.

On the hardstands, yards of plastic wrap are being slashed with Stanley knives, detailers are running at high RPM, as preparations reach fever pitch to ready the showboats for the biggest boating gig in town.

SHOW OF STRENGTH
This year, there are 219 exhibitors of 397 boat brands at SIBS. There will be 163 mainly luxury vessels on the marina in Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour, up a tad on last year, and an estimated 700 predominantly trailerable craft in the halls at Glebe Island.

Yep, Sydney boat show is go. So much so there were 13 boats on the marina-waiting list at the time of writing. The marina has been reduced to accommodate temporary ferry movements, while Darling Harbour undergoes refurbishment, however, SIBS remains the biggest and most extravagant luxury-boat display in the Southern Hemisphere.

Along with the comfortable cruisers and yachts, hundreds more trailerboats and loads of exhibitors of boating wares and cool kit will find their way to Darling Harbour and Glebe Island in coming days.

It’s roll-in, sail-in, cruise-in, and tie-up. For prospective buyers, it’s time to get  finances and borrowing power sorted. Those merely looking, and doing some research, will have almost as much fun. But do note this low-interest environment is an opportune time to get aboard a boat.

GOLD COAST CONVOYS
An armada of new luxury cruisers will be travelling in convoy down the coast from the Gold Coast Marine Precinct to launch in Sydney in coming days, too.

Like moths to the flame, Riviera alone will have five boats from 44-57 feet in length leaving the Gold Coast Seaway in the early hours of this Friday. They will be hoping for a window of fair weather and following seas. Maritimo has a fleet on the way, too.

Already, we’ve tested a few of the new arrivals prior to the boat show: the Back Cove 41, the Haines Hunter 585R, the Maritimo M48, the Riviera 52, a brace of Bar Crusher 490s, and more.

Other exhibitors have their hearts in their mouths, as the new-boat cargo won’t be unloaded till the weekend prior to the show. Yet others have just sailed into town from Melbourne.

Rod Bickerton from Force Boats was typical of the smaller one-man-band boatbuilders. He had been working around the clock putting the finishing touches on his new 25ft centre console with 400hp Mercury outboard engine about to be released.

Collectively, it’s an exciting time with so much boating activity and stunning new craft about to descend on Sydney.

FREE FERRIES AND PARKING
SIBS is located over two sites with the larger boats residing in Cockle Bay Marina, Darling Harbour, a few minutes’ walk from the city’s central business district. The undercover displays are housed in the cavernous halls of the Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island.  

A free and non-stop ferry service transports people between the two locations for a pleasant 20-minute journey across Sydney's beautiful harbour. Public transport and parking is available at both locations, giving visitors the choice of where they should start their boat show experience.

OUR EDITOR ON STAGE
While there is an abundance of boats and the gear for them, the event is not short on education and entertainment.

The Boating Safety Zone has representatives from an extensive array of organisations, who are able to assist visitors with information about boating and how to enjoy it safely.

At the MyBoatingLife Entertainment Precinct, visitors can enjoy master classes from some of Australia's leading boaties.  

David Lockwood, your marine editor at boatsales.com.au and BoatPoint.com.au, will be on the Better Boating Stage from 11pm-12pm daily to share his boat-buying tips, boat-testing knowledge, suggest some best buys, talk about family boating, holiday boating around Sydney, and reveal some of his top anchorages, neverfail fishing spots and more. Better start preparing for that as well.

Classes will run for those wishing to learn to fish, those with more in-depth knowledge on the sport and for the sailing and cooking.

For those visitors looking for some light entertainment, the stage will host eighties cricketing legend and boating and fishing tragic Len Pascoe.  Together with industry stalwart Kieran Reekie from radio program Hi-Tide, they will bring you many a story about their boating and fishing antics.  

CLASSIC BOATS
Who was to know that when Dave Pagano brought his collection of historic boats to the show in 2009, it would remain as one of the most talked about and popular exhibits ever.  

This year, the very interesting boat restorer and historian, has agreed to assemble another collection that will include the 1972 Griffiths Cup wining hydroplane Aggressor. The vessel that has to be seen to be believed is powered by a Rolls-Merlin V12 engine from a World War II P51 fighter plane.

Located nearby, for those with a passion for speed, a race boat display will allow you to get up close to these marvels and the power plants that drive them.  

OPENING INFO
The Sydney International Boat Show is put together by the Boating Industry Association (BIA) and supported by its Partner in Safety, Transport for NSW.  The BIA and Transport for NSW, work together all year round to educate boaties, about the benefits of safe recreational boating.

The show opens on Thursday July 30 and runs for five days until August 3.  It opens at 10am each day and remains open until 8pm. A show ticket gives visitor’s unlimited access to both show locations.

More information about the event, transport, parking and buying tickets can be found at the shows website http://sydneyboatshow.com.au.