After the announcement of the change of dates of the Grand Pavois in 2020, removing the closing Monday in favor of an early opening on Tuesday, we took stock of the situation of the boat show in La Rochelle with Alain Pochon, president of Grand Pavois Organisation.
You have announced a change in the dates of the Grand Pavois in 2020 and the removal of the Monday day. What are the reasons for this?
Monday used to be the traditional day for shopkeepers. This has disappeared because now they work every day. Today, many exhibitors leave and pack up on Monday. It had become an almost dead day. This should not change much on the sales which will logically be transferred to Sunday. The Grand Pavois is a show for buying boats of the moment, with sales every day.
What about the proximity with the Cannes Yachting Festival as it was the case in 2019? The 2020 editions will be further away.
There has always been the will to move in relation to Cannes because we have common exhibitors. But the Grand Pavois cannot take place before September 10th because there are other events in La Rochelle and the technical means of the municipality are not available. In addition, the port of Minimes would lose too many customers. On the other hand, there is the problem of the tides. We had carried out studies of derogation to accommodate deep-draft boats in the basins of Minimes by large tidal coefficients. The budgets of 2 to 2.5 Meuros were too high for the community. Unfortunately, when the dates are close to Cannes because of the coefficients, there will remain a problem because there will be only one day of beating for the exhibitors before the opening on Tuesday.
What is your assessment of the Grand Pavois 2019?
It was a good edition with many boats sold. The proximity of the Cannes Yachting Festival resulted in a lower attendance of Parisian customers. There was also an attraction of the new sailing show in Cannes. We also had the will in 2006/2008 to launch a show on 2 sites with multihulls and large units in the basin of trawlers, close to downtown. With the crisis, we missed the opportunity and I regret it, even if it poses organizational problems, especially for generalist shipyards that must manage 2 stands.
What changes are expected in 2020?
We are going to continue with the developments, keeping the new entrance at the end of the equipment manufacturers' hall and improving the shuttles. The large Hall B, the services hall, will disappear. It will be transformed into several small villages. This will make it possible to free up space on the platforms for the onshore exhibition of small boats, as requested by the shipyards. Indeed, the cost for them is lower and the new boats, not launched, can be resold directly.
