This year’s Barcelona Boat Show will feature the America’s Cup

Just one year before the celebration of the America’s Cup, the Barcelona International Boat Show will hold an event that embodies the spirit of this regatta in terms of its activities and stands and the exhibitions and experiences set to take place at the venue. As a leading event in the industry, it will once again bring together the main domestic and international brands and showcase the latest models of boats, ones that are increasingly committed to quality, innovation and sustainability.

The 160 boats in the water and the 240 exhibitors that the Boat Show will bring together this year in Barcelona will share the space at Port Vell with the nautical bases of the six teams set to take part in the 37th America’s Cup at an event in which the atmosphere of the regatta will reign at the venue and in the surrounding area.

Thus, the stands of the Port of Barcelona, Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica and Port Olímpic will host a varied schedule of events, conferences and talks throughout the five days of the show, during which the nautical competition will play a starring role, along with the promotion of sustainability, the blue economy and inclusiveness.

The show will also complement its activities with the America’s Cup Experience, the official centre to popularise the 37th America’s Cup. This is a huge exhibition which, by means of large screens, models, photographs and a reproduction of the trophy, will recount the journey of a competition going back 173 years.

Show president Luis Conde declared that “as a key player in the development of the industry, this year we felt that we had to contribute to the promotion of the America’s Cup. We energise the industry and drive innovation and sustainability and we’ll serve as a bridge connecting the city and the greatest sailing competition in the world, enabling visitors to discover every tiny detail of the iconic regatta and share our passion for sailing and the sea”.

As for Josep Antoni Llopart, the director of the event, he said that “the show will once again position Barcelona at the centre of the European boating world, bringing together the best brands and the latest innovations and trends and attracting international buyers and fans to the city”.

Participation of leading brands
Thus, the Barcelona Boat Show, organised by Fira de Barcelona in partnership with the National Association of Nautical Companies (ANEN), will once again occupy the docks of La Fusta, España and Marina Port Vell with a large exhibition of boats and recreational boating accessories.

We should highlight the exhibition of 20 catamarans, eight sailing boats eligible for the European Boat of the Year Award, two fully electric boats, a boat for going fishing or diving that can be transported by car and different submersible jet skis.

Leading firms such as Aquila, Astondoa, Bali Catamarans, Bavaria, Beneteau, Blue Game, Candela, De Antonio Yachts, Elan, Excess, Fjord, Fountaine Pajot, Hanse, Jeanneau, Lagoon, Pardo, Nautic Swan, Recambios Marinos, Rodman, Torqeedo, Sealine, Sessa, Shogun Yachts, Solaris, Sunseeker, Tesoro, Touron, Yamaha and Zodiac will all attend.

The range of activities at the show will be complemented by the Fun Beach area, a space in which the different exhibitors will provide visitors with the chance to try out their products in situ, with the aim of demonstrating the high degree of innovation achieved by the companies within the industry.

Following in the footsteps of previous years, the show will once again emphasise trends such as sustainability, innovation and electrification so as to promote the transition of yachting towards the blue economy.

Dynamisation of the industry
Similarly, the Fira de Barcelona show, the industry’s leading event in Spain and one of the most important ones in Europe, will be the key meeting point to boost sales in the industry, which, in the period between January and August, recorded a total of 5,191 registrations, constituting a year-on-year increase of 5.4%.

With growth totalling 13.6%, sales of boats less than 6 metres in length, basically jet skis and folding boats, are chiefly responsible for these excellent results.

Jordi Carrasco, ANEN’s managing director, stated that “the industry and our partners who attend the boat show are already getting ready for this year’s event, one that’s sure to attract fans due to its connection with the America’s Cup. As for ANEN, it will put on an attractive schedule of activities as it does every year, both to bring the industry closer to the Administration and to offer practical sessions on crucial topics for sailing such as safety and training, among many others”.

The recreational side of the Boat Show will feature different food trucks and the opening hours will be extended until 10:00 pm on Friday to enable the exhibitors to organise all kinds of events to interact with their customers.

The hall will be open to the public from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm with tickets with prices ranging from 15 euros for adults to 8 euros for large families, pensioners, people with functional diversity and minors between 14 and 17 years of age. Children under 14 years old will be given free admission. Similarly, in order to contribute to popularising the America’s Cup, the Boat Show will offer a 20% discount on the cost of admission to its exhibition.