8,000 Sail into Progressive's LA Boatshow Saturday

Spanning the course of Thursday, February 25th to Sunday, February 28th, approximately 8,000 attendees were able to board and explore a variety of vessels on the LA Convention Center floor as well boats harbored at the Marina del Rey pier Saturday.

The bulk of the show took place at the Los Angeles Convetion Center, located in downtown Los Angeles. Upon entrance to the Convention Center, attendees were free to explore a wide variety of water-faring vehicles and waterborne accessories. One hundred and twenty nine vendors gathered in the South Exhibit Hall, boasting an impressive 347,000 square foot area. The room was partitioned to the various vendors so that they could set up their booths, with vendors like Boston Whaler or Nautique Boats getting large booths in the center of the hall. Vendors sold goods ranging from boating accessories like wake boards and life jackets to refreshments for parched boat show goers. This was, of course, in addition to the many boats available at the show.

Photo Courtesy of Balita Filipino News

Boats of all shapes were available for perusal at the show. Seadoo jetskis, were available for the low price of eight thousand and up. The medium range were occupied by pleasure boats and fishing boats offered by retailers like Boston Whaler. A thirty five foot Boston Whaler 350 Outrage might go for somewhere around the 350 thousand dollar mark. The major attraction for most people, however, were the cruisers.

Selling from anywhere between one and one point seven million dollars, cruisers can be viewed as the smaller relatives of yachts. The Sea Ray 400 Sundancer is the posterchild of well executed cruisers. At an impressive 40 feet, the 400 Sundancer has an array of accomodations. Containing a full galley (kitchen) with stove and sink, multiple berths for sleeping that could comfortably accommodate five in total, multiple heads, or bathrooms, and room for an entertainment center. Children and adults alike reveled in the richness of the atmosphere of the cruisers, their gasps and exclamations of wonder audible from outside. When asked, everyone said that the cruisers were far outside their price range, and that they merely wanted to experience the grandeur of them. Not everything was priced so highly though, as several activities were also available.

Every thirty minutes, several seminars were available for attendees to take in. Held at Fred’s Shed’s booth, the topics were diverse although they mainly revolved mostly boat maintenance and repair, skills an aspiring sailor would surely need on the high seas. Additionally, the float-in theater (a play on words in the vein of drive-in theaters) showed exciting footage from boat races, evidenced by occasional cheers from the audience, as well as ads for various products available at the Show. Finally, there was a sailing simulator that offered to show people what it is like to pilot a sail boat.

The sailboat simulator was an interesting exercise in engineering and physics. A sailboat hull was placed on the simulator, a freely rotating 'deck' on top of a stationary base. The deck rotated with the boat's sail, giving attendants the opportunity to 'tack and jibe' or change heading when sailing into or with the wind, supplied by a number of fans placed around the simulator. I spoke with Exhibitor Relationship Manager Natalie Rankin briefly to ascertain how many people might have enjoyed these festivities.

Although we did not have long to talk, Rankin said about eight thousand people attended the show just that day. Rankin was not comfortable with estimating how many people were expected to attend the show during its four day run.

While the LA Boat Show has finished, it does not conclude Progressive’s series of Boat Shows across the country. Two boat shows are planned, one in Minneapolis, Minnesota and one in San Francisco, California.

While current attendance numbers are not available, it is safe to say based on attendance numbers from previous LA Boat Shows that at least ten thousand attendees had a great time this past weekend, and are likely looking forward to next year!