This year was our 24th Annapolis Sailboat Show and it was without a doubt our best boat show in many years, not only because we had so many of our owners visit and hang out with us but also because we met so many new buyers ready to “take the plunge”!
While we were exhausted from the monumental effort it took to prepare, plan, and execute a show with multiple booths and boats, the Catamaran Guru team closed the show, happy and energized. It certainly helped that the South African rugby team won their quarter final game for the Rugby World Cup in the last hours of the show on Sunday! LOL
Bali Catamarans: We represented the Bali and Catana brands again this year and what a fantastic show for both brands! Most notably, the Bali 5.4 and Bali 4.4 were the run-away favorites, and we sold our production for the year. We are so excited to welcome these new owners to our boutique charter fleets.
Catana Ocean Class 50: The Catana OC 50 (Mithril) was no doubt the surprise of the show. The performance sailors were blown away by the interior space as well as the luxurious and spacious owners’ cabin and the price is incredible! I think we converted a few owners from some of the other performance catamarans and many of them now have the Catana firmly on their favorites list.
Charter Management: Talking about boutique charter fleets; CG again brought a group of boutique charter fleets in the BVI, USVI & Bahamas together to collaborate with our sales team and the new boat owners. These charter fleets are some of the best yacht charter management companies in the business. So many of our clients who purchase catamarans, are interested in ways to offset the cost of owning a large, crewed catamaran and we know that our clients are in good hands with this co-op of charter companies.
Brokerage: While we were toiling away at the boat show, we had team members man Pier 7 Marina where we have multiple catamarans and monohulls for sale. This pre-owned market is becoming stronger with more inventory becoming available. The 2023 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is upon us already (October 25-29), and we have a great selection of yachts for sale around the show ready for viewing. Click the link and find all the listings or call us at (804) 815-5054 to schedule an in-person or virtual showing.
Seminars: Apart from having almost 50 catamarans on display, there were also multiple tents with merchandise and seminars for everyone. I (Estelle) had the pleasure of addressing a group of women from “She’s A Cruiser” Master Class alongside women like Behan Gifford (sailingtotem.com), Nica Waters (fit2sail.com), Sheryl Shard (YouTube.com/distantshorestv), Sophie Darsy (ryanandsophiesailing.com) and others. What a great group of women to work with and it is a privilege to impart some of my knowledge and experience on the “newbie sailors”. I highly recommend this course! You can read about my topic of discussion here>> “How to Know When You are Ready”.
From our Team: “We can’t wait to see you guys at the next show”!
- Fort Lauderdale, FL: Stephen Cockcroft, Christine Buttigieg, Michael Harris, Steele Greyling, Craig Allison, Estelle Cockcroft.
Annapolis, MD: Brad Kauffman, Dave King,
BVI: Greg Clum
Kemah, Texas: Terry Grover, Nick Shields
