Hamburg Messe: CLOSING REPORT – Successful start to the season at hanseboot ancora boat show
Successful start to the season at hanseboot ancora boat show
More boats in the water, more pagodas on shore, and new attractions in supporting programme
The season in the North has got off to a successful start at the hanseboot ancora boat show. This in-water show held at the ancora Marina in Neustadt/Holstein from 24 to 26 May 2013 featured more boats than ever before, more exhibitors on shore than in the previous years, and new attractions in the supporting programme. The only negative factor was the weather – after a dry and sunny start on Friday, it rained almost non-stop throughout the weekend. Nearly 12,000 enthusiastic boat owners, leisure sailors and new entrants visited Germany’s largest in-water boat show, to see the boats in their element and to try them out in test runs.
“Apart from the weather, everything went extremely well,” said Heiko Zimmermann, Project Director hanseboot at Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC). “We had 147 yachts and boats in the water and on shore, and more than 70 pagoda tents around the harbour basin, presenting equipment, accessories and services for watersports. That is a new record, so we are very pleased with exhibitor participation. And the visitors, who refused to be deterred by the rain, were of course exactly the right clientele, with an interest in purchasing, and great enthusiasm for pleasure boating.” This impression was also confirmed by a great many exhibitors, who were delighted with the sales they closed and with promising customer leads.
The list of boats and yachts along the pontoons ranged from sporting daysailers to performance cruisers in the sailing boat category, and fast weekenders to ocean-going displacement yachts and luxury class yachts in the motor boat category. The flags flying along the ancora Marina for the three days of the event included of many well-known European builders and nearly all the large series builders such as Bavaria, HanseYachts, Bénéteau, Jeanneau, Hallberg Rassy and X-Yachts.
The programme at the hanseboot ancora boat show included plenty of hands-on activities and entertainment, with fun for the whole family and useful information for new entrants and experienced watersports enthusiasts. For the first time, visitors had the opportunity to enter the world of motor boat driving in theory and practice, thanks to sessions organised by Gründl Bootsimport, Pantaenius Yachtversicherungen and Secumar Bernhardt Apparatebau. The new sportsboat licence regulations enable drivers to operate a boat up to 15hp without a licence – that was a key issue in the supporting programme for the in-water boat show, providing extensive information and free-of-charge taster trips. High-performance enthusiasts had a chance to take speedboat tours in a 250hp rigid inflatable boat (RIB), organised by the “Baltic Pirates” for the first time during the in-water boat show in Neustadt. Live demos were presented by various exhibitors and partners at the water event area and in the action space, highlighting sport, technical equipment and safety.
Young visitors had a range of opportunities for play and DIY activities. Boys and girls could build small wooden boats themselves, under expert guidance by the boat builders of ancora Marina, or make their own specially designed canvas bag with the support of sailmaker Simoneit Sail & Service. Children aged four years or more could join in various motor boat activities on the water, run by Schleswig-Holstein Junior Motorboat Community (Jugend-Motorboot-Gemeinschaft Schleswig Holstein e.V., JMG S‑H), yacht equipment supplier A.W. Niemeyer (AWN), and Pantaenius Yachtversicherungen.
