A chance to float to the boat show
June Casagrande
Float, don’t run, to this year’s Newport Boat Show.
For the first time, the annual big-boat expo is adding a “guest
dock” that will allow people to get to the show by boat, as well as
by car, foot and shuttle when the show takes place April 14 through
18, the producer announced this week.
“It’s just a way to allow more people to get to the show without
adding to traffic and parking,” said Duncan McIntosh, producer of the
annual show formerly called the Newport Harbor In-Water Boat Show.
Only boats smaller than 26 feet will be able to dock there, he
said, but that will still help a lot of people who live on the water
in Newport Beach or who are coming from any of the yacht clubs.
The show specializes in yachts 26 feet and bigger. Billed as the
West’s “Ultimate Big Boat Show,” the show looks like it will be
bigger than ever this year. McIntosh said he’s in the process of
signing up exhibitors. And among them are some of the biggest boats
ever. La Charchesa, a Hargrave 100, will be on exhibit for the first
time on the West Coast. A 100-foot Westport is also lined up for the
show, and McIntosh expects about a half-dozen yachts more than 100
feet to be on display, he said.
“Normally, if they have three decks on them, you could have 10,000
square feet of space,” McIntosh said. “So they’re really something to
see.”
Every year, McIntosh said, the Lido Marina show adds more docks
and floating features to maximize space for exciting exhibits. This
year, the show will add two floating “accessory booths,”
50-foot-by-100-foot tents on the water, one of which will contain a
Caterpillar Series 60 diesel engine weighing more than 60 tons.
“A lot of the larger yachts have this engine, so this gives people
a chance to see what’s powering some of these big boats,” McIntosh
said.
The annual show is a perfect fit for Newport Beach that brings in
a lot of first-time visitors, said Marta Hayden, executive director
of the Conference and Visitors Bureau.
“People come for the show, they stay in the local hotels and
restaurants, see everything that Newport has to offer, then they
start coming back,” Hayden said. “We think it’s great.”
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