Boat Show rerun

Well I did in fact attend the Strictly Sail show on Friday and for a little while on Saturday evening. Friday I spent most of my time walking around talking to industry friends and bumping into a few of my customers and friends. I spent some time around the Ultimate 20 booth as my brother Brad was there, that little boat still gets a bunch of people coming by to ask about it and check it out.

I did not spend much time at all looking at boats, in fact I only really looked at three closely at all. Brad and I went up and into the Ultimate 24 that was there. That is an interesting little guy for sure. It will be interesting to see what likes when rebranded the Antrim 25. Good move? Time will tell.

We also went by and looked briefly at the Beneteau 36.7 to see what was up with that class. This boat has a shit load of participation in many several areas including Chicago that has over 25 of these racer/cruisers. We then stopped by the Melges 32 to see the changes that they have had to make to the boat in order to get the motors to work all the time. See picture. Boy it looks more like a Henderson 30 all the time!

On Saturday I went back to the show with two good friends, Doug and Janet Nickel and my beautifull girlfriend, Karyn. (it was her first jaunt to a boat show). We looked around a bit more, ran into more friends and had a couple beers!

Doug and I ventured onto the Bavaria 37 to have a look see. I was very impressed with the wood work and the interior layout of this boat. I was not at all impressed with the steering area or the deck layout. The Nav station was quite nicely laid out and had a good amount of space for computers and read outs. Nice job there.

We then went up to check out the Beneteau 49 but the line was huge so we went onto a 43??? Can't remember the actual model. Still a bad steering layout, on boats this big lets just all agree to put two wheels on them and call it done! So off to the belly of the beast we go. I must say that this boat was not nearly as impressive as the Bravaria.

We then stayed up and waiting in line for the 49. That boats cockpit layout was much better then the other two boats. It has the twin wheels that a good cruising boat should have. I do think that having a mid boom traveller on a cruising boat is a bad idea. They do nothing for sail control and you cannot get proper sheeting most of the time upwind. (while I understand that I look at this from a more racing background, but it does not make sence). I would much rather see a single point sheeting system back by the wheels or even a Hunter "spoiler" where the traveler is up over your head. Just makes more sense to me.

This boat had a beautifull double cabin layout, perfect for a couple that wants to sail/cruise only with one other couple. The aft cabin was awesome! that is where I would park my fat ass while cruising. I was again disappointed in the Beneteau Nav station, you all really need to take a look at the Bavaria, it was far superior. (Kind of wish I would have taken some pictures.)

Anyway, having talked to friends in the industry, I think that the show was again a success for all that were there. I think that I got a few leads that will be helpfull as well!

I will comment more on gear a little later.
Cheers,
Tac