Brisbane Boat Show

[ozynorts]

Day 1 Review.
I was through the gates at opening and set about climbing all over every boat I could.
Great venue this year as there was heaps of space for the boats.
Was good catching up with Carry and fisho8 also.
Got the guided tour of the Surtees 6.1 and came away very impressed. They are an unbelievably well finished boat with great storage and options. If anyone is considering a plate boat do your self a favour and check them out..
Tackle options were average I thought though.
Caught up with Tim at Coastal Powerboats. It was this time last year that I was negotiating with him for my boat.
By far the best person I caught up with today was George Groth, owner and builder of Yalta Craft. Had a long chat with him and what a great guy. I was asking a heap of questions and it turns out that there are new models in the works at Yalta. I asked if had ever considered turning the 1800 model into a centre console? Funny you should say that he says and pulled out his phone and showed photo's of the first one in the shed being built. Mentioned that I had heard a rumour about a 7m model. It turns out it is no rumour and will be happening. He is just going through the planning stage with it at the moment. Looks like there will be a couple of versions including a hard top with full height screen. He really wants to do a stern drive model in the 7m also. He is also doing insulated factory seat boxes now also. The current 2000 model also has a new dash layout which will be good for flush mounted electronics. He is also looking at remodelling the transom on the 2000 and possibly incorporating a transom door.
All in all a good day and now have the feet up wondering if I should give murf his Dragonfly or keep it for myself.:D

[Just_chips]

Tackle options are very average. Buyer beware the 50% off tag on the reels such as Pflueger Salt only brings it down to normal pricing that you could pick it up for anywhere. Got myself a sabiki rod for $40 so at least that was ok.

Kev

[Jarrah Jack]

Only got three sounders on board Ozy so we could always do with another, especially if Murf is paying. Some serious business to discuss tonight with the weather looking the way it is.:)

[boboncc]

Bugger ......... I arrived in Brisbane this morning for 24 hrs but being an "out of towner" I didn't know it was on, otherwise I would have made the effort to have a look! I guess it closes at 5pm.

[IcyDuck]

Closes at 8 tonight.

[boboncc]

Thanks IcyDuck, I googled it after I posted and managed to get there shortly after.
I had an good time having a look around, much better than watching the election on the box! Like ozynorts I was also impressed with George Groth and the Yalta, a very genuine and approachable man with a good product. I also had a good look at the Cruise Craft display and drueled a little. ;D

As a newbie to boating, some will remember my questions here, I'm not looking at trading in my H.Sig any time soon as I'm having too good a time with it, but it doesn't hurt to have a look!

Cheers
Bob

[wayno60]

Bugger ......... I arrived in Brisbane this morning for 24 hrs but being an "out of towner" I didn't know it was on, otherwise I would have made the effort to have a look! I guess it closes at 5pm.

mate don't worry to much you didn't miss much......tinnie and tackle show is far better.

[fisho8]

Was good to meet you Ozy and have a chat mate today was quite busy I have 6 test runs booked on my boat so far so hopefully some will come through overall the feedback has been great on our display caught up with a few more Ausfish guys today was great to see you all out and about and to chat and catch up with you I am at The Northside Marine stand in the big white tent I will be there Tomorrow and Monday so if any of you have not been and are going come over and say Hi.

[Shark Poker]

Just got back from the Boat Show now. It was excellent. An incredible improvement on the last 3 or 4 years.
The number and range of trailerboats was amazing. There was more than adequate space for everyone, and room in between brands. There were some fairly new marine businesses there as well. Great to see.
Yes fishing tackle was limited to mainly a couple of fruit market type setups.

I think it is a very sad thing for the industry and its' customers that the Brisbane Boat Show has been crammed into that 'box' over at Southbank for too many years.
Now its back and it is onward and upward.
Next year the show will be even bigger.
Pauly

[davek78]

fish08 thanks for the tour over your rig/surtees this morning appreciated your time. Gave me plenty of food for thought.

Dave

[robothefisho]

I went on Saturday. I have to be honest I couldn't believe the ammount of imported junk now on sale at ridiculously expensive prices. I don't understand why anyone would even consider it.

On another note, I couldn't get over how much boats have gone up in the last 4 years. The real standout for build and price though I believe was the Haines Hunter 560 Offshore. Was definately my pick from the show.

[morphias]

Hi all,

I was massively underwhelmed.

The tackle was 99% crap - like what you would find at a dollar shop. There was a few good deals on jigheads, plastics and squid jigs but not really anything you wouldn't see at your local tackle shop on sale on a regular basis. Don't get me started on the guys running it...

I was really hoping to see the new releases from Caribbean, Robalo, Pro Line, etc. Sea Fox was there and I was very impressed with the amount of boat and fitout you get for the dollars. Just comparing their 19' to a Tournament 19', for the bit extra you pay for a Sea Fox, there is just no comparision.

I agree that the HH 560 OffShore was awesome - best from the local manufacturers by a mile. Haines Hunter and CruiseCraft in general were good as always.

~50% of the boats on display were Quintrex. It's like they piled in every boat they had in stock from every reseller just to fill the pavillions. :( Oh look, another Quintrex...wow... :(

I wish more of the local builders would take a big leaf out of the USA builders book in regard to underseat storage, kill boxes, etc. I also wish builder would just stop with pedistal seats - they are a MASSIVE waste of space. CruiseCraft by far have the best seat setup and HH have an option for a U frame seat mount instead of a pedistal, but it is nowhere near as good as what CruiseCraft do.

Hopefully with the new venue and more space, we will see more variety in coming years.

My highlight for the day was my little man getting to meet Paul from iFish. He spotted him in the crowd before is did his daily show and walked straight up to him and introduced himself - he's 5 going on 6 - about the same age as Paul's son. The way Paul responded and interacted with him was great. Unfortunately, my boy suddenly went shy when we asked if he wanted to get a photo with Paul. We watched the show and no amount of coercing could get him to build up the courage for a photo - it was the main reason we went - so that he and my 2yr daughter could meet the guy (other than their dad) that they idolize. I tried telling him it was his one chance, but he started getting upset, so I let it go.

Anyway, a few hours later, by chance we ran into Paul again and my boy decided he was now ready to get a pic - Paul remembered him and was only too happy to give him the opportunity. My little man was so happy that he got a second chance and it made his day.

Paul cops a lot of flak on the various forums, but in my limited experience is that this is unfounded. I think he is a lot more humble than most celebrities and gives back to the people that made him what he is and he is especially good with children.

Ben.

[Dantren]

I wasn't going to make the effort this year, because I want for nothing at the moment.
But I was given some tickets from the wife's hairdresser so my family made a day of it today.
I want to put out a huge thanks to all the exhibitors. Good on you for keeping our boating industry ALIVE!!!!!!!!

[Firsttimefisherman]

It was a great show and agree the "50% off" gear was a croc! They were selling Jarvis Walker rods on "special" for $19.99. I bought the kids the exact rods at KMart for $12 just a few weeks ago.

Next show is the Gold Coast Marine Xpo at Coomera in November. That's a great display of everything from tinnies to super yachts.

[Micadogs]

The new venue seems to have divided us. I'm in the didn't like corner. Too spread out, lots of walking just to see everything. Hard pressed to find a boat over 7 meters. Previous venue was much more compact, didn't have waste time looking for everything.

I enjoy looking at the big boats too, no carribeans, no Grady whites etc.

I wonder why they didn't attract the bigger boats, better tackle eg daiwa was always represented etc ?

Cheers Adam