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Boatbuilders and equipment manufacturers are vying with each other to make their presence felt, but the visitor who crosses the gangway of a new boat is increasingly hesitant. Energy costs, regulatory constraints, maintenance, mooring space, the anxiety-inducing political and economic context: these are real obstacles to buying or keeping a boat. What's more, the forthcoming changes to the TAEMUP could have a significant negative impact on the industry, which really doesn't need this at the moment.
In this context, increasing the number of trade shows without restoring the desire to sail is like preaching to the choir in already saturated halls.
The challenge for the industry should not just be to fill the calendars, but to recreate the desire. The desire to leave, to weigh anchor, to keep your boat rather than put it up for sale after a few seasons. Yachting cannot be reduced to a technical offering: it lives on the emotion, the freedom and the escape it provides.
Of course, boatshows are indispensable showcases, but they must also once again become gateways to new audiences. How can we initiate young people, reassure first-time buyers, convince families that owning a sailboat or outboard motor remains accessible and a source of pleasure? How can we remind current owners that a boat is something to be lived with, passed on, and not consumed like a disposable item?
Restoring the desire to sail is perhaps the real challenge facing the industry in the years ahead. Shipyards, equipment manufacturers, marinas and distributors have a shared responsibility: to talk about fewer square meters of exhibition space and more hours spent at sea. Because in the end, it's the time spent at sea that will keep customers coming back, not more badges hanging around their necks.
