The Bio Grad Boat Show took place from the 19 – 22 October 2017, Nick and Mahina Hathaway from 45 Degrees Sailing give a great review of their experience.
Earlier in the year I went to the Croatia Boat Show in Split and was extremely disappointed by how little was presented, the overall ambience and experience. The Biograd Boat Show has now taken over as the largest boat show in Croatia with more than 300 exhibitors, 300 vessels and around 50 premiere boats on display.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the Biograd Boat Show, so was happy when I came across this – a vlog about the boat show by Nick and Mahina Hathaway from 45 Degrees Sailing. They checked out a lot of different boat makes, from the Bali 4.3, Lagoon 4.0, More 55 to the Azure 33c and took us on a walk-through as well as giving their opinion on certain features.
What I appreciate most about this, is that they aren’t so focused on a particular boat or charter company but rather assess the boats on their individual merits from a sailing and charter perspective because with their sailing company they charter a variety of boats depending on clients’ wishes.
I also like that they mention a couple of unique suppliers (as boat shows aren’t just about the boats), they mention an embroidery company – because those in the charter business are always looking for good companies to take care of uniforms and the likes. And, no trip or mention about the nautical life is complete without a visit to our friends from Break Time, who had a stall set-up and were adding their nautical bracelet ‘bling’ to the wrists of many happy customers all weekend.
In speaking to Nick and Mahina about the Boat Show, an interesting comparison they made was about the level of service they experienced in most of the displays. They said, unlike other boat shows they have attended around the world, they found it hard to even find someone to be able to do a tour of a boat and when they finally did, a lot of people were unhelpful, inattentive or even rude. Maybe this has something to do with the Boat Show being over the same weekend as the Vis Regatta, so some companies may have been stretched to have enough personnel as well as boats to present.
However, I came across a similar situation at the Croatia Boat Show, a lot of the people ‘representing’ some companies didn’t know a thing about the company or boats which suggests that they were just brought in to ‘man’ the stall. It is surprising because I know a lot of charter companies and when you go into their actual office or are in a charter situation, you will (generally) receive the warmest, professional and helpful service. Perhaps, in a Boat Show situation, people underestimate the effect of first impressions…
Credit: Sky Actions Media Production
Whatever the case, this was a good overview and I loved the raw, personal feeling of the vlog. To see more from 45 Degrees Sailing, visit their Facebook page here.
