As usual I arrive a day before the world´s biggest and, as they say, most important boat show opens its doors to the public. In January, when it´s still cold, wet, snowy and miserable outside, the boating industry traditionally meets in the heart of Europe: The city of Duesseldorf, perfectly located at major Autobahn crossings, train lines and easily accessible via the river Rhine (from Amsterdam, where the big super yachts are shipped from), hosts the famous “Boot”, German for “boat”. It´s the world´s biggest “dry” boat show, filling 16 big exhibition halls, drawing in thousands of exhibitors with around 1.000 boats on display – from 10 feet to 100.
I arrive one day earlier because it takes time to accustom, get ready your stuff, suit up and – most important – talk to the shipyard you are working for about the latest news, see your booth and the boats on display – and, of course, taking a look at all the others. There is no place nor any location or event where you can see a wider range of boats, equipment, brands and people. I just love being here as Duesseldorf is also a huge matchmaking and business networking hub for professionals. So, after nine days of Boot 2026 – how was it like? What´s the starting signal for the upcoming boat season? Let´s dive in …
Pleasant anticipation: Crisis or atmosphere of departure?
Boot Duesseldorf is a gauge for the boating industry, at least for the European part, but also for the American part of the market. How many exhibitors went to the show? And much more important: How many of them took the (huge financial) strain to bring one, or more, boats? And at last: How many visitors arrived and enjoyed the show? As I was roaming the halls on the Friday before opening day, most of the booths were still under construction. Many craftsmen and an army of boat cleaners buzzed around to finish the booths for the grand opening.
Crisis? A simple Bratwurst in a bun with some mustard costs seven Euros, with snack prices for simple snacks went up to over 10 Euros – staggering! This fact underlines the current high-price situation after years of inflation, high energy and labor costs which have driven the budgets needed to purchase a new build boat to such heights that for most series production companies the small and mid-size boat sales have literally crumbled during the past years. As my sources from different brands confirm, sales are down up to 50 per cent, for other companies even more dramatic.
On the other hand, sales for high-priced boats in the 50-feet and bigger classes seem to be stable and even growing. As I roam the nearly-finished halls, I am happy to see that many brands which hadn´t been attending Boot boat show in the past years are back – series production brands as well as luxury brands. But I also notice that some others, many of them traditional Boot exhibitors, chose not to come or don´t bring a boat anymore. The market clearly hasn´t recovered to pre-Covid levels. Summing up the feedback and insights I got, I´d say that it had been halved. Full stop. I´ve talked about this with Beneteau-CEO Yann Masselot, you might look forward to this upcoming article.
(A not so much) full house …
The trade fair organization tried hard to fill all of the halls so that the visitors could roam the full area they are used to see. But of course, with many companies absent and others reducing exhibition space dramatically, there´s a lot of free space to deal with. Usually this is first and most apparent in the “Tier B”-halls, but this year it was clearly apparent also in the “Tier A”-halls 16 (the most prestigious sailing-exhibition hall), in the hall 15 (where the smaller brands have their sailboats on display) and even in the most attractive Boot-hall, which is the superyacht-hall 6. I mean, for the first time in “my” 10 Boot-years, Beneteau was allowed to have a stand in hall 6 … where usually only the high class luxury brands could have a booth.
Also, it was clearly notable that even in my hall 16, where traditionally the biggest and most interesting sailing-yacht makers are on display, many display areas weren´t occupied. Lots of space was just open and free, where the organization fitted “lounge” and “social areas”. It´s a pity and really hits me in the heart: X-Yachts hadn´t a single boat on display, many others reduced their booths. Beneteau, where I again found my working pace for the coming nine exhibition days, had also reduced the stand: Not by showing fewer boats, but by simplifying the construction of the booth. So in essence, I´d say that many of the mid- and big-size players of the industry were missing or had reduced their presence, while some others, like Bavaria, returned – which is a good sign for sure!
(Not all too many) interesting new boats
Much more striking for me personally was the fact that I would say that I´d never attended a Boot Duesseldorf boat show with so few really interesting new yachts or innovations to see. I mean, a few years ago, Neo Yachts had their 570 on display, I already mentioned the absence of an X-Yacht. I know, this is a very subjective thing, but I found it quite hard to select boats of interest for me. You may have read my outlook-article a few weeks ago with the boats to have on your watchlist – most of them are your “usual suspects” with no real great highlight as most of the new boats weren´t really new.
As I said, this is a very personal view: Pure Yachts had their new 42 on public display for the first time, which clearly was a true highlights for many visitors. Same goes for the Woy 26. Beneteau showed the new Oceanis 47 and 52, which are their latest, but not as-new. The First 60 on the other hand along with the First 36 SE celebrated their world premieres – about which I will write in the coming days. The new Sun Odyssey 455 was unveiled on the Jeanneau booth, Lagoon had their small but big 38 on dry display and if you looked closely some other brands had quite interesting specimen to discover. Like the now Solaris-owned CNB showcasing their new 62. But a big bang? At least not for me …
This resonates with the overall situation and (much more) with the current mood in the industry: A restrained positivity and hope, with signs of a humble recovery here and there. Nobody wants to take a risk, bigger investments are a thing of the huge companies whereas the majority tries to go along, some just survive and all want to get better. For most part, the exhibitors didn´t show a huge wave of new boats or new ideas. I guess this is also due to the fact that at least the big production boat market is currently changing – and nobody knows for sure where its heading.
With small- and mid-size boat sales down and charter-orders well below expectations, the question looms where the “average Joe” sailing boat market heads to. There are many small boats now available with a tendency to become more affordable, but I don´t have the feeling that the last word is spoken here. Beneteau stepped up interior quality for their new 8th gen Oceanis significantly, signaling a stronger focus on owners needs, kind of departing from the “cheap & practical” charter-focused boats. Yet I felt lots of uncertainty in this segment.
Sparks of hope
So is it all bad? Of course not! Boot Duesseldorf proved that it is still the hub for the industry and the go-to event for anyone interested in getting on the water in one form or another. The surf and kiting dedicated halls were as bristling and colorful as ever, the halls with equipment manufacturers filled with exhibitors and full of people. There is a saying that if the equipment-industry from sailmakers to parts are satisfied with their sales, it´s a bad sign for new boat sales: People apparently tend to equip, refit and upgrade their existing boats. Vice versa: When new boat sales are up, it´s usually bad for the equipment and parts manufacturers.
Another thing I noticed was the amount of young people. The hall were the classes, sailing clubs and sports initiatives had their stands where bigger and fuller than ever. From the classic Optimist, Yngling and 49er-displays to latest foiling dinghies and Class Mini-associations an unusual wide spectrum of almost everything that floats and has a sail was on display. This is a good sign as our beloved sport desperately needs new blood. I will publish two articles dedicated to this topic in the coming weeks. Every day after closing time I had to walk through this specific hall and I was happy to see such a colorful and attractive range of stuff young people can do – without having to spend a fortune upfront.
In terms of people to meet, Boot 2026 was also very attractive: On one day I bumped into no other than German Frers who casually walked around roaming the halls, offering his presence to the Nautor´s Swan and Hallberg-Rassy booth were “his” boats were on display. Only a day after this, I ran into legendary Sir Robin Knox-Johnston who´s Clipper round the World Race company had a booth on this show as well. We had a little chat (although he couldn´t remember our (for me still) remarkable interview a few years ago), and I was astonished, excited and exhilarated of having shaken hands with the first man ever who sailed nonstop solo around our globe. This is Boot to …
Where is the boating industry heading?
As you may know, I am not selling actively boats anymore (apart from our new build Omega 42). Which honestly is a blessing, because it´s of course much harder to sell in low times, with external and also internal competition being very high. It´s a buyer´s market now who have the power to negotiate from a high ground, exert pressure on half-desperate dealers and shipyards seeking sales. The word “bargain” – usually a blacklisted curse word for boat dealers – suddenly is en vogue again: If you seek to buy a new boat, it´s your chance now to get a great deal!
The rate of innovation was very low. I remember Boot editions where sustainability, new technology and innovation had had much more room. Electric propulsion wasn´t a thing, sustainable boatbuilding seemed only to be marginalia. That´s a pity because those topics aren´t gone, but I guess in times of crisis playing safe and not “irritating” or sidetracking the customer may be a good way to concentrate on securing deals. One trend however which I felt very strongly during the past two editions of Cannes Yachting Festival was the “luxurization” of the industry: With the middle class vanishing (or at least holding back their spending), many tend to focus on the remaining upper part of the customer-base: The millionaires. Exception proves the rule, of course. A boat for “everyone”? Maybe a new Varianta, as Hanse tried to insert into a similar battered market some 15 years ago … not to be seen. As of now.
I had the feeling that the “special” boat, the niche, the upper-shelf quality kind of performs much better. Leonardo Yachts with their beautiful Eagle even stepped up in booth size, Hallberg-Rassy and Contest Yachts as big as ever (with Oyster still missed dearly) and – as I already mentioned – CNB returning to the show. Even Black Pepper displayed their carbon-racer/cruiser again. I would hope that this is a good sign for the next Boot edition in January 2027: Pogo, X-Yachts, maybe Neo and other smaller brands like JPK or Bente hopefully returning as well. I mean, apart from Excess who brought their XCS 13 (and won the European Yacht of the Year award), Lagoon and Bali had a catamaran on display as well. A good sign, as transport costs and efforts to bring a multihull are much higher than for a similar sized mono – a testament for the importance of the show also for this market.
Are boat shows still worthwhile?
Which brings us to my conclusion. Was Boot Duesseldorf 2026 a good show? And even more important: Are big “dry” boat shows still worthwhile? For the latter, let´s be clear: A boat show on the dry has advantages no in-water show can ever come up with too. For really dedicated sailors, seeing the underwater hull shapes, keel forms, manufacturing qualities and appendages is very important. Also, dry boat shows usually offer a greater range of displayed boat sizes, more time on board and the chance to roam about and sit down with a dealer in privacy. As much as I love in-water shows like Cannes, I see the need for “dry” shows like Boot. Maybe we don´t need so many smaller regional shows? Anyway, I knew how to counter the high prices for Bratwurst & snacks on the show … preparing my good old German Klappstulle each morning at home to get my stomach through the show …
As for this year´s edition, I would say it was a good show. With Bavaria having returned this year and Hanse being back since two years, all of the big five production brands had been on the show. This is important for potential buyers to switch between the stands and really get a picture of how the boats really compare side-by-side, how the exterior and interior production quality really feels and, if needed, to get a quote for your next boat right away. That´s quite a good thing. I missed the extravagant highlight, a spark of innovation, an outlook to the future. But maybe this is normal in uncertain times: Refocusing onto the stuff that surely works, reluctant to take a risk and make a bold step.
There´s still much interest in all parts of our society for watersports, for sailing, for owning a boat. That´s a good sign. Be it that the middle class is currently very reluctant to spend their money on luxury goods and “unnecessary” stuff like boats, at least they are returning to the shows, at least they are looking at yachts and talking to people like me: I walked 105 kilometers on the Beneteau booth in nine days, handing out more than 300 business cards and some 150 flyers to people I spoke with during the show about their future projects. That´s more than 10 kilometers per day on my booth showing six yachts on display, talking to more than 30 people daily. I would say, this is not bad at all, right?
So, dearest readers: You can look forward to some articles in the coming weeks from yacht walkthroughs to interviews with exciting people and insights from Boot 2026 at the Rhine. If you don´t want to miss any one of those, sign up to the monthly newsletter right away. Thanks to all the people I´ve met in Duesseldorf this year, sorry to you all I couldn´t shake hands with as it indeed was full-house from 10 to 6 p.m. on the booth.
You might as well be interested to reading these related articles:
All articles on the past Boot Duesseldorf shows
“We want to create memories” – interview with the Beneteau-boss
