Southampton Boat Show
A visit to Southampton Boat Show 2025
Lots of chat this year on social media regarding Southampton Boat Show almost had me not visiting but really glad we did. We spent two days visiting the show. It felt different this year. It took a while to adjust my mindset but once I did I found so much to do, it felt like there was more depth and less superficiality. This will no doubt attract a different crowd and it remains to seen whether this is the correct route to ensure viability. I certainly hope it is.
Tickets and Parking
Prices on the door seemed expensive and so the hunt for discounted tickets began. Talk around sailing clubs locally had been similar, everyone was hunting for codes. I know many who didn’t go this year due to prices. In the past, RYA members received a free ticket although this year a £5 charge was introduced. This was only available for a short period for early booking but was a fair offer. Other than that the best offers we could find were £19.99 if booked before the show started. Grateful thanks to a lovely previous student who kindly organised a complimentary ticket for us to return for a second day.
Parking is plentiful around the show. Surprisingly we arrived late but still parked on the bottom floor of the multistorey, unheard of in previous years. Best value was actually on street parking but West Quay is easy. The entrance is further to walk now but to be honest quicker to get to the things that particularly interested me. It did make me wonder if visitor numbers were down or perhaps more people used public transport.
Social Media & Website
As we couldn’t visit the first weekend I made the mistake of looking at social media in advance. Lots of negativity almost put me off attending but glad we ignored it. A mixed bag, it gave us advice on what to hunt out but my feed wasn’t showing the positive news stories. Perhaps the exhibitors could try and push more positive news content but I know how exhausting it is just getting the stand together. A coordinated approach from all could help future events.
I was glad I researched the show in advance as there were some great talks and events to attend. I didn’t find it easy to find the information and found myself emailing people in advance about events I knew were happening but couldn’t find publicity for. Not sure if I just hadn’t looked for them before or there were more this year, but the talks program was excellent and definitely something to push.
The Show
Our first day was focussed on looking around, catching up with people and attending a couple of prebooked events. Initially the show seemed small and lacking in atmosphere but once we attended our first talk we got into the event. In terms of clothing chandlery, there were few mega bargains to be had but it was a good opportunity to look at items and pricing was comparable with buying online. Sadly, so much buying is now done online the days of the show end of line bargains are behind us.
There were a few chandlery equipment stands and some good prices to be had on Icom radios, better than I could find online. Always good to have a look at equipment innovations and changes and chat to others. Stands were well manned and on the whole helpful, friendly staff. A shift in attitudes makes the show a much more inclusive event now, hopefully better reflecting our society.
Talks
‘Get into Boating’
The first talk we popped into was being hosted by Nicky Vaux, the Boat Princess, talking about different ways to get into boating. The topics covered included buying, chartering, boats clubs and shared ownership. It was a useful insight to hear the questions raised by the audience to better understand what queries and thoughts potential students may have. It is a way for us to ensure we cover material in training to best anticipate the questions people have. A discussion session is always a good way to prompt thoughts and often prompts questions people hadn’t previously thought of. It helps people getting into boating to develop their thoughts on the best pathway for them. I haven’t seen Nicky speak before but she brought great enthusiasm and was an engaging speaker.
Lifejackets
Next stop was a talk by Charly Hewett from Ardent Training on Lifejackets. She was looking at choosing lifejackets, key components and routine testing. We work with Ardent Training to provide our online Day Skipper course so its always lovely to catch up with them and we attended really to show a bit of support. Ardent bring a fresh approach to theory training and we love their positivity and innovate approaches to traditional topics. The stage was hard to find and sadly difficult to hear due to chatter from nearby. I suspect this impacted the attendance at the talk which was sadly poorly attended. This was a shame as Charly gave a great demo and talk and I’m sure many others would have found the information useful.
I would definitely suggest seeking out the talks if you can in future. Everyday is a school day. So many leisure boat users don’t get to see lifejackets inflated or being set off, many are unaware of what is inside them and yet it is something we rely on every boating trip. Charly gave a really useful insight into various aspects of lifejackets.
Passage Planning
Following on directly in the same stage was Peter King from Ardent. He was giving a talk on passage planning for small craft. Such a huge topic and invaluable free advice and training that once again it was shame the audience was impacted by the lack of visibility of the stage. If you were at the show and didn’t attend you really did miss out on some great free training from Ardent. We attended as a way of exchanging ideas. Peter sensibly changed the format from a presentation to facilitating a small group discussion which worked well. We would have struggled to hear over the nearby noise which had increased since Charly’s talk, so a small group huddled around the stage worked great.
The talks were a fantastic initiative and very valuable. Anyone would could participate at whatever level. For future, I’d suggest these greater publication in advance so people can plan their day. It would be helpful to have better planning and a host for each stage. A compere introducing speakers and promoting future talks brings more atmosphere. A host outside guiding people, showing them to seats and encouraging questions would feel more welcoming. That said, the drop in/out format is always nice at a show as no-one wants to feel trapped!
Stands
We quickly made the decision to return for a second day to focus on electronics. The first day was spent meandering. The show was smaller this year but felt more relevant and focussed. Alongside a browse of the standard chandlery stands, we also visited friends on trade stands, marine charities we work with. Of course, there was also a quick walk around the on the water marina.
At the risk of missing names, here are a few exhibitor highlights. On the chandlery stands this year was great to see so many options for boat hooks. It sounds random but having a choice of boat hook makes life so much simpler for leisure boaters. From the buoy catcher to the moor fast, the simple boat hook is not always a simple choice!
Highfield RIBs
We had a great chat with Tom on the stand. He is always enthusiastic and it was great to look around their range. They have certainly grown in popularity around Poole and we often see these for own boat training. We had a chat about future potential options for ourselves as well as looking at models that would suit different client groups. Our students that have bought Highfields seem pleased with them. The variety of options across the leisure range, professional and adventure certainly offer lots of choice. I got so engrossed looking at them that I forgot to take many photos. The choices on board make these boats a popular choice. Thanks for Jelly beans and blue Honda Duck too!
Ocean Freedom Sun Cream
We use a LOT of sun cream during training so always good to look at options. For years I had a favourite, if not pricy, sun cream but these was unavailable for a while and then reintroduced with a new formula and only available in certain months. I have tried the standard supermarket brand which do the job for everyday but I was interested to look at the Ocean Freedom range. Not a brand I know much about but having spent time in Australia its clear we don’t take this topic seriously enough in the UK. Ocean Freedom were giving out free samples at the show. A South African brand now available in the UK. A few days after the show I was particularly impressed with their Surf Clay which seemed to do the job well. Still investigating this one but a brand to watch.
Marine Charities
NCI are always a favourite. Lovely people providing a valuable volunteer led service to keep us safe on the water. We always pop by the stand for a chat and we were pleased to see our local teams from Hengistbury Head and Swanage across our two day visit. If you haven’t heard of NCI do go check them out. We use their service regularly for radio checks and they kept their friendly eye on us on trips along the coast. A charity we always talk about during our VHF radio courses. We also got to chat with our local RNLI community safety team. Chris from their team is always helpful and full of ideas so lovely to catch up. Again, another valuable volunteer led resource. Do check out their Mayday cards.
Icom
Icom – we couldn’t attend the show without stopping by to say hi. A lovely chat with Chris, updating us on news and new products. In particular a chance conversation led to the revelation that ICOM sell radio lanyards. Anyone who has attended our VHF courses know that we strongly recommend getting a lanyard so great to hear you can now order these.
Traditional Shipwrights
Tas is a beautiful boat built by the Traditional Shipwrights who are our neighbours in Poole. The owners are rightly very proud of her. She is a Westons Point 27.
Saltwater Solutions
Always good to catch up with friends from Saltwater Solutions who were displaying two Windy models.
Women in Marine Event
The final part of our day was dedicated to the Women in Marine event. This event is open to all and everyone is encouraged to attend, not just women. This year it was good to see the publicity made this clear. It is a free event made possible by sponsorship and the discussions panels always cover diverse topics. Women are still underrepresented in the marine sector and this event is designed to offer support, look at the reasons why and try to offer solutions to promote a generally more diverse work force. The barriers affecting women often affect other underrepresented groups too. Thankfully the main British Marine page advertised the event as disappointingly this never made it to the main Southampton Boat Show webpage. This shows why you need to research your day before attending the show to find all the ‘hidden’ events too.
The discussion panel was hosted by Nicky Vaux and panellists included:
- Captain Claire Thompson, Commanding Officer of HMS Queen Elizabeth
- Sarah Donohue, Marine stuntwoman, conservationist and powerboat champion
- Claire Abraham, HR Officer, Navico Group
- Kate O’Sullivan, MD/Owner of PR Agency ADPR
A review of the panel and discussions is available on my LinkedIn page: LinkedIn Women in Marine Post
Electronics:
On day two we ran into various past students which was lovely for a catch up. Our particular focus though was the electronics stands, updating our product knowledge. We focussed on Raymarine, Garmin and B&G.
Raymarine is a brand known to us as we have their plotters on our own boats so this was a was quick catch up.
Next stop was Garmin. We found the fantastically helpful Meggie who was happy to answer all the questions we threw at her. Amazing product knowledge, willing to chat, demo and find answers. Really useful to chat about the comparisons between dedicated chart plotters and app based options, particularly with a brand that offer both. Alongside general queries we chatted about setting geofences on the devices, auto guidance routes, processing power of different devices and the relief shading.
Final stop was Navico to discuss Simrad, B&G and Lowrance. A slightly different approach to other companies, Navico have different brands aimed at specific sectors whether that is sailing, fishing or powerboating. These brands are starting to appear on boats we train on so great to be able to compare them and discuss. Richard on the stand, who turned out to be local to us, was brilliant in guiding us through the systems. It was end of the final day of the show but he still showed lots of enthusiasm and definitely a brand we would now consider using fully.
Conclusion:
A different show this year, smaller but more focussed and with a little planning very worthwhile.
It would be great if there was more interaction in advance with organisations such as sailing clubs and commercial training centres. Lots of show content that we could advertise to potential visitors that we often don’t hear about until after. The talks were great, would love to see more of them with a little adaption of advance publication and hosts or comperes for the stages. The show could also be a great event for CPD sessions for commercial sectors whether skippers or instructors beginning or end of day, it could prompt great relevant to the commercial leisure sector. More information, a welcome on the gate, more announcements.
Finally a plea as with all shows a plea for exhibitors to respect visitors by not packing up early! We were nearly flattened towards the end of the show by a group trying to remove a large desk arrangement blocking an entire aisle and requiring us to take cover in an adjoining stand! It was potentially hazardous not to mention a poor reflection on their brand.
All in all, well worth visiting whether you are a professional or leisure boater. Thank you Southampton Boat Show for another great event and particularly to the sponsors who made the talks possible.
