Most spring boat shows cancelled
If, as we will see, all the events of the 2021 yachting season are not cancelled, the calendar of spring boat shows in France is reduced to almost empty. With more or less anticipation, a large part of the organizers have chosen to cancel their appointments:
- The agglomeration of Aix-Marseille Provence and Grand Pavois Organisation have announced the cancellation of the Nauticales de La Ciotat 2021 from November 2020
- The Occasions of Port-Camargue have been cancelled in February 2021
- The Arcachon boat show will also wait until 2022
- The Hissez'O exhibition will not occupy the quays of Les Sables d'Olonne before 2022
- In Saint-Malo, the 1st edition of the boat show is postponed to the fall
- Last but not least, the International Multihull Boat Show in La Grande Motte will be held on March 24, 2021 and will be postponed to 2022.
For the latter, caution outweighs their desire to maintain after the often costly last-minute cancellations suffered in 2020 following the 1st containment. " We will have believed in it until the end, but we have to submit to the safety instructions that the period justifies... it is a new edition which is cancelled! This 2021 edition, of which we had certainties as for its holding, was presented in the best conditions..., it will not be, alas! "The organizers of the International Multihull Boat Show in La Grande Motte are sorry to say.
Some resistance fighters and alternative events
However, some choose to persist, like L'Orient Nautic. The Breton boat show is to be held May 22 to 24, 2021. " We choose to take risks. Our capacity is much lower than 5000 people simultaneously. The show is entirely outdoors, without tents. We had chosen the end of May in particular to give us a pilot's foot in relation to the pandemic situation. We are going to submit the file to the prefecture, knowing that they warned us that they could refuse 10 days before "explains Valdo Dhoyer, member of the Association of Nautical Professionals of Lorient (APNL), organizer of the show.
In the absence of official trade shows, alternative events are set up by the shipyards and professional associations. In Port Camargue, open houses are planned from April 2 to 5, 2021. In New Aquitaine, the Atlantic Cluster has launched its Tour, in La Rochelle, in March and in Arcachon in May-June to make up for the cancellation of the show.
What about the fall boat shows?
If the vaccine strategy presented by the authorities is kept, autumn should mark the return of boat shows in France. The marketing of the Cannes Yachting Festival has already been launched through a campaign in the professional nautical press, while the Grand Pavois de La Rochelle affirmed on the same day as the cancellation of the Multihull Boat Show its confidence in holding its 49th edition. " We should be at the end of September at a reassuring level of vaccinated people in France, which will allow us to serenely consider our appointment "said its president Alain Pochon. Let's hope with the whole nautical sector that the future will prove him right.
