Sail America Launches New Boat Show in the New York Metropolitan Area

 
Sail America Launches New Boat Show in the New York Metropolitan Area
All-Sail Show to Take Place at New Jersey`s Liberty Landing Marina in September 2003

October 11, 2002 -- Sail America, the trade association for the sailing industry, announced plans today to launch a new sailboat show in the New York City metropolitan area. The New York/New Jersey SAIL EXPOĆ will take place September 25ń28, 2003 at the Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City (New Jersey). This in-water show will take place just over a mile from Manhattan`s Battery Park, in a metropolitan region densely populated with sailboat owners and sailors.
"For years, the sailing industry has asked for a boat show that would put companies in touch with consumers in the New York metropolitan area," said Scot West, Sail America`s Executive Director. "We listened to the feedback and we did the research, and a fall show at Liberty Landing became the marketing opportunity the industry has been asking for. . . If you draw a 50-mile circle around the marina, you will encircle a region with the highest number of registered sailboats in the United States."
The Sail America Board of Directors and the organization`s National Show Committee expressed overwhelming support for the show, as well as members who have advocated for finding a way to reach the New York market for years. "A show in New York is exactly what this industry needs: the potential is huge," said Hans Bernwall, a Sail America member and president of Scanmar International (Pt. Richmond, Calif.).
Fall is a busy boat show season for the sailing industry, and Sail America did not take the step of adding a new show lightly. A long process of research preceded the establishment of New York/New Jersey SAIL EXPO.
"It was clear that there was no show that gave the industry access to the New York market, at a price sailing companies could afford," said West. "Still, we weighed the pros and cons of adding a New York venue very carefully." The key criteria were the show`s location, timing, the cost to exhibitors--and the assurance that a new show would create sales and marketing opportunities for the industry that did not exist before.
Liberty Landing Marina is a prime location--an 8-minute ferry ride from Battery Park, 6 miles from Newark Airport, and just over a mile from a city that sees millions of commuters on a daily basis. The region is densely populated with sailors: according to FCC VHF licensing statistics, the highest number of registered sailboats reside in a 50-mile radius of Liberty Landing Marina. The region is one of the largest readership areas for the nation`s leading sailing magazines: for
one, SAIL magazine readers within a 50-mile radius from the show`s locale are the magazine`s largest subscriber group, 35% larger than the next readership region. Many shoreline communities where sailing is a popular pastime--such as Larchmont, City Island, Stamford, Glen Cove--are also within a 50-mile radius of the show, and sailing enthusiasts in coastal towns in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut will be able to travel easily to the show.
The New York/New Jersey SAIL EXPO also has the potential to develop into a destination show, drawing international showgoers and those from outside the Northeast who plan to combine a visit to a national sailboat show with a stay in New York City.
In regard to timing, the late September dates fall two weeks after the Newport (R.I.) International Boat Show and two weeks before the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis (Md.), both of which are popular shows for the sailing industry. New York is a stopping point as exhibitors and their boats migrate from New England to the Chesapeake Bay each fall.
When comparison cost studies were d