2012 Miami Boat Show - Worth attending? Any tips?

We have a Grand Banks 42 trawler that we keep on the Sacramento River Delta near San Francisco.* We will probably be in Southern Florida in February of 2012.* Although we are not in the market for a new boat, we have always enjoyed attending boat shows where boats similar to ours are displayed.* Is the Miami International Boat Show (February 16-20, 2012) worthwhile?* How many days should we allow?* Do you have any tips for someone who has never attended this show?

Thank you very much.

th

at sounds more like the date of the fort laurdale show, which is also very good?

capt jerry wrote:
th

at sounds more like the date of the fort laurdale show, which is also very good?

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*Nope, these dates are for Miami.

C2Dan wrote:capt jerry wrote:
th

at sounds more like the date of the fort laurdale show, which is also very good?

Click to expand...

*Nope, these dates are for Miami.

*Right, Miami.* The Ft Lauderdale show is usually in November.

If you want to see the latest models of boats and equipment demostrations, it would be well worth attending. I will probably try to get down for it.

I like the show well enough, but I rarely view the boats in the convention center. The great majority are go-fast boats that don't interest me much. The vendor area is huge and interesting. I took the "show price" on quite a few items. West Marine also had a good show store and great specials. This year, I went to Bayside at Miami Waterfront and checked out the sail area and a few Cats. They had their own vendor area, and the environment was much nicer. For 2012, I think I'll do the vendor area again at the Convention Center, but will spend the rest of the time in the nearby Marinas (transportation available to and from the Convention Center) checking out the trawlers and power cats. If you're coming, study the website and plan your time. It's big. So is Ft. Lauderdale, by the way. I'll also be going to Baltimore for the Trawler Fest there, and maybe Solomons, MD and Stuart, FL as well. Good luck.

In February there will actually be three boat shows open the same time in Miami. Strictly Sail Miami, which is of course sail boats, The Miami Boat Show, which is new boats only at the convention center and at one of the marinas downtown, and The Yacht and Brokerage Show which is on Collins Ave on Miami Beach, which has brokerage boats and also larger new boats and yachts. In last few years Grand Banks was at the Yacht and Brokerage Show, Selene and Nordhavn at the other show.

There will be shuttle buses between locations, and the Yacht and Brokerage show has free admission. The brokerage boats will be generally 40 feet and up and prices usually over $350,000 as it is very expensive to buy display space. Two days will allow time to visit a lot of the displays, but you could spend longer as the yacht and Brokerage show has almost a mile of display docks.

The Fort lauderdale Show is at the end of october and is the largest in water show in the world, three days will let you cover all of the displays.

What's happening at Stuart, Fl? We have a friend with a condo there, but have never been to that area.

Jim

Thank you, Healhustler and Yachtbrokerguy.* These comments are very helpful.

Lobstah asks about Stuart, FL. There is a Boat Show there in January run by the owners of Southern Boating magazine. I have brought boats for sale to that show a few times and like the low key atmosphere, similar to regional boat shows that I have attended in other parts of the country, rather than the mega shows at Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach.

Trawler Fest was held in Stuart for a few years but that has now moved to Fort Lauderdale. Slips were very limited in Stuart for Trawler Fest and many companies that wanted to display could not get room, but that is no longer a problem. Trawler Fest also sells display space now for brokerage boats so therer is a mixture of new and used at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale.

We have been to both Miami and Lauderdale and in my opinion they are quite different. As Tucker mentioned, the Lauderdale show is "on the water" so it is more focused on boats while Miami is more "soup to nuts". We usually roam the Miami Convention Center for 1 or 2 days, the "stuff" can overwhelm you; the center is huge and contains everything from engines, electronics, galley items, if it could go on a boat it's probably at Miami (even a few things that are not marine in nature). Thursday is less crowded. The Collins Road show is another day or two, depending on how many different kinds of boats one wants to see, from 40 to 140 feet. If you are trying to focus on just trawlers and see what's available you could do that in a day but it could spill over. I like seeing the different ways similar yachts are individualized. The people watching and scenery can also be interesting.
The hotels close to the show fill up fast and pricing is "peak season". We have found that a rental car is not necessary in Miami.
If you are a boater I think you should go at least once to Miami.

So y'all are saying that to go look at boats in the water, go to FLL, but MIA is more of an actual trade show? We are thinking of going to a show as well, but aren't in the market for a boat. We are, however, in the market for "stuff" (electronics and upgrades). So we should look at going to MIA?

GonzoF1 wrote:We are, however, in the market for "stuff" (electronics and upgrades). So we should look at going to MIA?

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*FLIBS is the place to go to look at the latest gadgets. The convention center is full of displays and the tents at Bahia Mar will take you days to view.

The only place better to see "stuff" is METS in Amsterdam.

I have not recieved the rates for display space in the Miami Boat Show yet but do have them for the Fort Lauderdale Show.
Here are the dockage rates for the Ft. Lauderdale Intl Boat Show October 27 31, 2011. All are plus electricity and these are for brokerage boats. New ones have a higher rate.
*
$5,800.00************ per Boat / Up to 59 feet
$7,315.00************ per Boat / 60-79 feet
$9,600.00************ per Boat / 80-100 feet
$11,890.00********** per Boat / 101-125 feet
$14,585.00********** per Boat / 126-150 feet
$17,280.00********** per Boat / 151 feet and over
*