The Boat Show turns 60 and will gather 700 boats in Port Vell

The next edition of the Barcelona Boat Show will reinforce the event's commitment to reaching new audiences and creating community, and will delve deeper into digitalization, innovation, and sustainability as new trends that are marking the present and future of the sector.

Coinciding with its 60th anniversary, the show has launched Nautic 6.0, a digital communication initiative to meet these two objectives. The event organizers, Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with the National Association of Nautical Companies (ANEN), have devised four channels ---a blog, a monthly podcast, a television program, and a social media-based program-- which will be informative, educational, and entertaining, and which will not be ephemeral but will have continuity throughout the year.

From October 12 to 16 of this year, the edition of the show will for the first time occupy three piers of Port Vell (Fusta, Espanya, and Marina Port Vell), where a wide display of the national and international nautical market is expected with the presence of boats from the main companies and brands. Specifically, the participation of 200 exhibitors and 700 boats is expected, around 200 of them in the water.

The president of the event, Luis Conde, highlights the growing importance of technology at this fair, which will also feature for the first time, an area where the latest advances in innovation and sustainability will be showcased. The Innovation Dock space will gather a sample of the most disruptive innovations of the moment developed by nautical startups from around the world, along with a pontoon on the waters of the port where two prototypes of sustainable boats will dock, one propelled by hydrogen and another, electric.

With the America's Cup of Sailing

As it has been doing, the Boat Show will support the organization of various competitions and, "of course", the America's Cup of Sailing to be held in Barcelona in 2024 will be one of them. Luis Conde has stated that it will be a springboard for nautical tourism and especially for that coming from the United States, a country with a large number of followers of this competition.

Likewise, the Boat Show will become the main collaborator of a series of trials and regattas that will take place throughout this year such as, for example, the Ruta de La Sal for sailing cruise boats, the WindsurferEuropeans 'La Brava Cup' for windsurfing and Solo Med for class 6.50 boats.

On the more commercial side, the general secretary of ANEN, Carlos Sanlorenzo, expressed hope that the event "will be a lever to activate commercial activity and help close the year 2022, a year that is being significantly impacted by market uncertainty, runaway inflation, and the supply crisis that continues to affect boat deliveries."

According to data provided by the organizers, in the first half of this year, 3,552 recreational boats have been registered in Spain compared to 4,190 registered in the same period of 2021, representing a 15% decrease.