With September's international boat shows at Cannes in France and Southampton in England now over, one of the most noticeable conclusions from leading Irish boat brokers was the increase in Irish interest in boat buying in Eurozone France compared to the drop in interest at Southampton.

Irish exhibitor Gerry Salmon of MGM Boats who attended both shows says he saw a noticeable reduction in Irish buyers on the UK south coast, where the UK market is no longer seen to be as accessible by buyers after Brexit. 

Cannes welcomed over 50,000 visitors, with almost 600 yachts on display in the south of France and has become the go-to European Autumn show over the past several seasons, especially with Irish buyers.

Salmon, an experienced exhibitor with over 25 years in the business, put the Irish Autumn boat buying perspective succinctly: "[There was] a noticeable reduction in Irish buyers where the UK market is no longer accessible but an increase at the Cannes Show instead, which was welcomed and overall a good two weeks".

County Wicklow broker BJ Marine at Greystones Harbour were also in attendance at both Cannes and Southampton shows.

"We found Cannes to be a particularly busy show this year, helped no doubt by a number of world premieres for new Beneteau models", James Kirwan of BJ told Afloat.

"With flights to Nice, Cannes is very easy for our Irish visitors to get to", he added.

Southampton certainly saw fewer Irish visitors than in years gone by, but as Beneteau dealers in the UK with our Bangor, Cardiff and Pwllheli offices, it still holds an important place in the BJ Marine show diary, Kirwan said.

The 54th Southampton International Boat Show drew to a close on Sunday, 24 September 2023, and despite the weather causing havoc mid-week, with high winds and driving rain, organisers say exhibitors, sponsors and visitors have heralded the show a success. Covering 70,000+ square metres, the show welcomed over 650 craft, with over 350 boats berthed in the marina alone, an increase of 17% year on year.

This year marks the first full Southampton show after bouncing back from Covid and since last year’s closure out of respect for the Queen’s passing and "the feedback from exhibitors from across the industry has been positive, with many indicating strong sales”, commented Lesley Robinson, CEO, British Marine.

The Cannes Yachting Festival closed on Sunday, 11 September, after six 'exceptional days' of business, according to the organisers.

As Afloat reported previously, the Irish participants included MGM Boats, X Yachts IRL and Key Yachting IRL. 

For its 45th anniversary, the French show had almost 650 boats (monohull and multihull, motor and sailing boats), including the finest gems of the seas and 135 world debuts, as well as the latest nautical equipment and numerous innovations were revealed for 54,000 French and international visitors to enjoy under the sun of the French Riviera.

“In many ways 2022 will remain unforgettable, not only because we celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Festival but mainly because we reached our ambitious objective, which was to exceed the results of the 2019 edition prior to Covid. These very good results echo the latest figures provided by the French Nautical Industries Federation (F.I.N.) on 31 August on the boating industry, which has brightened up thanks to order books filling up. Beyond the results, from the first days of the Festival, we heard lots of feedback from our 600 exhibitors as to how satisfied they were and delighted with the visitor quality, positive sales and wonderful weather. All the indicators were green! We are proud of and happy with these results,” explained Sylvie Ernoult, Director of the Cannes Yachting Festival.

The emphasis now for the European marine trade is on the Southampton Boat Show that opens on Friday, September 16th.

The organisers of France's 2020 Cannes Yachting Festival, Europe’s largest in-water event, have confirmed that this year’s show will go ahead as planned from September 8-13.

The news was confirmed today by the trade journal, International Boat Industry.

Exhibition staff have been working remotely to ensure the success of the show’s 43rd edition that has grown to become a major player on the boat show circuit.

The show is popular with the Irish Marine industry including brokers MGM Boats of Dun Laoghaire Harbour and BJ Marine of Greystones Harbour in County Wicklow and Crosshaven Boatyard in Cork Harbour, Key Yachting also of Cork and X Yachts on Dublin Bay.

“The aim is to open the Yachting Festival 2020 in such a way as to allow the event to be held in the best possible conditions and in full compliance with the protection of exhibitors and visitors,” Reed said in today’s statement.

More details from IBI here.

Sunseeker International powerboat manufacturer has announced strong retail sales at the Cannes Boat Show with in excess of £25m of retail orders (ex.tax) taken and a further £15m expected to be completed post show across a wide range of yachts including the wonderful new Manhattan 52 and the new 116 Yacht.

At this year’s show, Sunseeker launched four new models including the 95 Yacht, 116 Yacht, 68 MK II and Manhattan 52. The business also revealed that it moved back in to profit in the second quarter of 2016 with a forecasted overall return to profit for the full year. The next five years will see a massive £50 million of investment spent across new products, improved shipyard facilities and the continued recruitment of people.

Multiple model launches are set to continue as part of a long term product plan that will see new model introductions across the size range over the next five years including additions to the Manhattan range.

The Cannes show, which is the first of the Autumn season, was extremely busy for Sunseeker with very high levels of visitors to the stand and pre-booked meetings with clients and prospects at a record high, a reflection of the incredible product range from 50-150 feet, first class dealer network and unrivalled after- sales customer support.

Commenting on the strong retail sales figures, Sean Robertson, Sunseeker International’s Sales Director, said: “The Cannes Show has been highly successful and we are pleased to have had such a strong reception to our new models, in particular the Manhattan 52, which made its world debut at Cannes and really stole the show. We will be exhibiting most of our model range at boat shows throughout the world including Southampton and Monaco where we are also expecting strong retail sales.”