Many people have heard about the boat shows in Cannes and Monaco, but the Southampton Boat Show, squeezed in the middle of two popular events, has been undeservedly neglected. The editorial staff at Yachting & Boating World believe this needs to be corrected and we are in complete solidarity with them. Here are 10 curious facts about the Southampton Boat Show that you probably didn't know anything about.
To extend the Southampton Boat Show, the British Parliament passed a special law
The Southampton International Boat Show Act was adopted in 1997. It was an amendment to the Hampshire Act of 1983, allowing Mayflower Park to be closed for 10 days instead of 9 for the duration of the Boat Show. Oh, those pushy Brits.
The biggest temporary marina in Europe is being built especially for the show.
It takes 10 weeks to build a temporary marina of 50687 square meters with 2 km of pontoons. But then the construction is ready to accept more than 330 yachts and boats, from large sailing ships to Cornish Crabbers and from superyachts to tenders.
In 2005, in addition to a temporary marina, a temporary beach was built for the boat show.
And these are tons of sand that had to be brought to the location of the exhibition.
In 2014, the Southampton Boat Show had a 30-metre Ferris wheel...
It's never been done anywhere or ever again. «Here's the dinghy we wanted to see, honey! I didn't get a chance to count the row. Maybe another circle?»
In 2015, the famous Red Arrows aerobatics group«...»
Naturally, they performed their famous Pierced Heart»figure«.
In 2017, the Southampton Boat Show got its own sea taxi.
The passenger boat will carry visitors every hour for all ten days.
This year's biggest yacht on the show is the Princess 30M.
This is certainly not Monaco, where the size of the biggest boat is close to 100 metres, but it is also not bad. We have something to compare it with, we were at the «Moscow Boat Show» 2017.
In 2016, the Southampton Boat Show went up in the Guinness Book of World Records.
370 people put their bodies together the world's largest boat image. The record, however, only lasted a couple of months until November, when 1325 Hong Kong schoolchildren formed a whole brig.
The Southampton Yacht Show opening ceremony is always a surprise.
In the past, the event was opened by the Mayor of Southampton, but the organizers realized that this is not haipework, and began to offer annually different formats: marching guards, the Olympic team led by actress Michelle Keegan ... We hope this year will be Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Southampton Boat Show is not only a yacht show, it's also a beauty contest.
The competition for the title of Miss Southampton Boat Show was held annually from 2005 to 2009. The winner was awarded a photo shoot on a luxury yacht. It is necessary to return the glorious tradition!
