Melbourne boat show October 20-23 / 2022

[ducky]

I had a morning meeting in port Melbourne on Friday and went afterwards. My intention was to buy a small kill bag. Suss out some stainless work/bait boards and grab a mate a bumbag pfd. But was disappointed to see it was only boat related. I did take a bunch of pics of various bait boards but ultimately I'm glad I had reason to be right there. If I'd made the trip in I would have been annoyed.

Should have gone fishing though... was bloody hot.

That Formosa 635 was quite nice and "cheap" at $90k compared to the exorbitant prices (still well out of my price range). Hell a bare bones stabi 1450 is like $35k.

[hornet]

IN MY OPINION DON’T WAIST YOUR TIME ! I went this morning. I went to the exhibition building shed where it has always been...
my mistake my fault not reading the address it's at docklands !

So I go to docklands and it’s impossible to find a car park, after an hour or more I get a park, I walk down to the alleged "boat show"
What a disappointment! It’s in the open; all boats are on trailers along the promenade parked in rows.

Little tents dot the area with take away food, if it rains your screwed, forget affordable boats there is none, price range start from min $15000 for a basic tinny (bare) if any, most boats are $50000 and up from there.

No or little accessories, no fishing bargain bins no fishing tackle at all! NO WONDER IT'S FREE!
All I saw were the local yuppies taking the kids around with strollers, they are not potential boat buyers!

I will never go to another so called Melbourne boat show again unless it’s at the Melbourne exhibition building, where there is great easy parking, everything is under cover, and everything I expect to see from a proper boat show.

Mmmm ... Well I was also there this morning. I agree with most of Hornet's points and disagree with others.

I certainly agree that Jeff's shed is a better venue and that the variety of stands was certainly lacking. I would also add that the 'stage' was really poor as was the lineup of speakers. Alan Bonicci from Fishing Mad was given a slot last thing on Sunday when the place is about to close. Also, the 'Register to get your free ticket' con was pretty poor. The fact is that tickets weren't checked and anybody who wanted to just walked in. The ticket registration thing was all about giving the exhibitors a mailing list. Hey organisers.... be transparent.

That said, I don't agree entirely with Hornet. There are heaps of car parks in the area. I parked in an undercover that charged $10 for the day and was about 50 metres from an entrance. I drove straight in and no hassles. The show organisers have no control over the prices the exhibitors charge for their boats and other stuff. Also, there were certainly food outlets but not too many.

Overall though I agree that Jeff's shed is a far better option ... even if you have to pay!
Cheers
Kestrel

After a two year absence from the boat show due to lock downs I was so pumped to finally go again,I've never missed a show from it's conception as far as I can remember, from the first shows at the original old exhibition building in Carlton till Jeff's shed, I was willing to pay what ever they wanted to satisfy my longing for all things nautical, we have been spoiled in the past and take things for granted, we just expect what is presented to us is exactly what we want... alas I should have known better when it was announced it was free.

[Kestrel]

IN MY OPINION DON’T WAIST YOUR TIME ! I went this morning. I went to the exhibition building shed where it has always been...
my mistake my fault not reading the address it's at docklands !

So I go to docklands and it’s impossible to find a car park, after an hour or more I get a park, I walk down to the alleged "boat show"
What a disappointment! It’s in the open; all boats are on trailers along the promenade parked in rows.

Little tents dot the area with take away food, if it rains your screwed, forget affordable boats there is none, price range start from min $15000 for a basic tinny (bare) if any, most boats are $50000 and up from there.

No or little accessories, no fishing bargain bins no fishing tackle at all! NO WONDER IT'S FREE!
All I saw were the local yuppies taking the kids around with strollers, they are not potential boat buyers!

I will never go to another so called Melbourne boat show again unless it’s at the Melbourne exhibition building, where there is great easy parking, everything is under cover, and everything I expect to see from a proper boat show.

Mmmm ... Well I was also there this morning. I agree with most of Hornet's points and disagree with others.

I certainly agree that Jeff's shed is a better venue and that the variety of stands was certainly lacking. I would also add that the 'stage' was really poor as was the lineup of speakers. Alan Bonicci from Fishing Mad was given a slot last thing on Sunday when the place is about to close. Also, the 'Register to get your free ticket' con was pretty poor. The fact is that tickets weren't checked and anybody who wanted to just walked in. The ticket registration thing was all about giving the exhibitors a mailing list. Hey organisers.... be transparent.

That said, I don't agree entirely with Hornet. There are heaps of car parks in the area. I parked in an undercover that charged $10 for the day and was about 50 metres from an entrance. I drove straight in and no hassles. The show organisers have no control over the prices the exhibitors charge for their boats and other stuff. Also, there were certainly food outlets but not too many.

Overall though I agree that Jeff's shed is a far better option ... even if you have to pay!
Cheers
Kestrel

After a two year absence from the boat show due to lock downs I was so pumped to finally go again,I've never missed a show from it's conception as far as I can remember, from the first shows at the original old exhibition building in Carlton till Jeff's shed, I was willing to pay what ever they wanted to satisfy my longing for all things nautical, we have been spoiled in the past and take things for granted, we just expect what is presented to us is exactly what we want... alas I should have known better when it was announced it was free.

I felt the same as you Hornet. When the show was at Jeff's shed there were so many different stalls and exhibitions. One of the things I missed this year were the fishing gear sellers.

Do you know what the plan is for next year? Docklands or back 'home' to Jeff's shed?

[ben475]

IN MY OPINION DON’T WAIST YOUR TIME ! I went this morning. I went to the exhibition building shed where it has always been...
my mistake my fault not reading the address it's at docklands !

So I go to docklands and it’s impossible to find a car park, after an hour or more I get a park, I walk down to the alleged "boat show"
What a disappointment! It’s in the open; all boats are on trailers along the promenade parked in rows.

Little tents dot the area with take away food, if it rains your screwed, forget affordable boats there is none, price range start from min $15000 for a basic tinny (bare) if any, most boats are $50000 and up from there.

No or little accessories, no fishing bargain bins no fishing tackle at all! NO WONDER IT'S FREE!
All I saw were the local yuppies taking the kids around with strollers, they are not potential boat buyers!

I will never go to another so called Melbourne boat show again unless it’s at the Melbourne exhibition building, where there is great easy parking, everything is under cover, and everything I expect to see from a proper boat show.

Mmmm ... Well I was also there this morning. I agree with most of Hornet's points and disagree with others.

I certainly agree that Jeff's shed is a better venue and that the variety of stands was certainly lacking. I would also add that the 'stage' was really poor as was the lineup of speakers. Alan Bonicci from Fishing Mad was given a slot last thing on Sunday when the place is about to close. Also, the 'Register to get your free ticket' con was pretty poor. The fact is that tickets weren't checked and anybody who wanted to just walked in. The ticket registration thing was all about giving the exhibitors a mailing list. Hey organisers.... be transparent.

That said, I don't agree entirely with Hornet. There are heaps of car parks in the area. I parked in an undercover that charged $10 for the day and was about 50 metres from an entrance. I drove straight in and no hassles. The show organisers have no control over the prices the exhibitors charge for their boats and other stuff. Also, there were certainly food outlets but not too many.

Overall though I agree that Jeff's shed is a far better option ... even if you have to pay!
Cheers
Kestrel

After a two year absence from the boat show due to lock downs I was so pumped to finally go again,I've never missed a show from it's conception as far as I can remember, from the first shows at the original old exhibition building in Carlton till Jeff's shed, I was willing to pay what ever they wanted to satisfy my longing for all things nautical, we have been spoiled in the past and take things for granted, we just expect what is presented to us is exactly what we want... alas I should have known better when it was announced it was free.

what year did it start?
when i was a kid it was a big event for us, living in northern vic, driving down with dad and often pop or a couple of dads mates. I loved the old exhibiton building and Jeff's shed was also good. Reckon i went to almost every one through the 90's, i think i've only been twice since.

[Andrews]

Yeah, I went down on the Saturday and Sunday, and I found the boat selection and stalls a little underwhelming.
I'd think that there would be a nice range of boats, from your smaller 2022-23 model tinnies to your overly expensive $$$ boats, but it appeared that everything was focused towards the more expensive boats.

I feel to that at a boating show where a majority of the boats shown are intended for fishing that it would have been worthwhile having a diverse range of fishing brands exhibits, promotors, stalls, etc - the closest we got were two stalls selling anchors, and maybe one selling marine flooring.

The space was nice, but didn't accommodate the capacity of people. It was just too clustered, made it hard to walk around or even look at the boats.

The presenters were pretty good, FishingMad, JamesFishingAdventures and Paul Carter.

[purple5ive]

Thats a Bit dissapointing to hear, i was looking forward to it, but had my schedules changed last minute.
Looks like catching a red and stretching the twigs on salmon was the better choice!!!

[cobby]

I'd think that there would be a nice range of boats, from your smaller 2022-23 model tinnies to your overly expensive $$$ boats, but it appeared that everything was focused towards the more expensive boats.

A lot of that would be manufacturer delays. Telwater are running up to 6 months+ wait times for delivery, and the other mass produced tinny builders aren't much better. And glass boats are a similar story. Just the way of the world for God knows how much longer and why everything boats has jumped up 20% or more in price in less than 18 months.