Certainly, at the 12/02/2022 press conference, it wasn’t said in quite as many words, but almost, by evoking a necessary new format, the manufacturers dislike for the indoor shows, the energy problem for heating the halls in the middle of winter. But the taboo has been broached: Yes, “Le Nautic” – the once-powerful and unmissable Paris Boat Show - could well be shutting up shop. For me, who at the age of 10 discovered the sailboats of my dreams in the famous vaults of the Center for New Industries and Technologies in central Paris, this comes as a shock. Despite train strikes, snow or whatever, I haven't missed a Paris Boat Show since 1994, the year I entered the world of boating professionally. Is Le Nautic de Paris finally over?
For more than 10 years now, all of us, journalists with a hint of mockery, have been talking about this slow death. The big empty spaces on raw concrete, behind partitions, have transformed into giant ghostly smoking sections. Add to that the fact that the biggest manufacturers were beginning to snub the event, arguing that Cannes, La Rochelle - and of course Düsseldorf - were better, that their order books were full. This year, on the multihull side, it was a cat-astrophe. The play on words is easy but the facts were plain to see: only the Dragonfly 28 and the Astus 22.5 - both in their Performance version - were on display at Paris. That said, in the space of just a few hours at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center, I met up with most of the multihull players I wanted to see. There were almost no boats from our sector, but the men and women were still there. So at the end of this year, I wonder: what will come of Le Nautic and its kind tomorrow? Is there still a future for indoor boat shows?
Emmanuel van Deth
Editor in Chief
