Two boat shows get underway
Andrew Edwards
A fleet of yachts, bigger yachts, fishing boats and speedboats have
arrived in Newport Harbor to be displayed at a pair of nautical
events.
Two competing boat shows are scheduled to begin today and to close
Sunday. Maritime enthusiasts will be able to choose between the 32nd
Newport Boat Show at Lido Marina Village or the Southern California
Marine Assn.’s 2005 Boat Show at the Dunes. At the latter event,
which is in its second year, power boats are set to be displayed at
the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, and sailboats are scheduled to
be docked near the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.
The Newport Boat Show’s main attraction is the 130-foot Sojourn,
billed as the largest yacht in the show’s history. Boasting three
engines to propel the yacht at a maximum speed of 21 knots, the
Sojourn comes with a $10.5-million sticker price.
Built in 1999, the Sojourn would cost about $20 million new, yacht
broker Paul Caronna said.
Gargantuan by almost any standard, the Sojourn fits with the
Newport Boat Show’s overall tone -- buying, or at least dreaming,
big.
“What we’re really about is the 40 foot and up, the 50-foot-plus
boats,” Newport Boat Show promoter Duncan McIntosh said.
A short cruise away, the Boat Show at the Dunes has a collection
of watercraft with a broader price range, Southern California Marine
Assn. executive director David Geoffroy said.
“We start ... at $10,000 to $12,000 and work up to boats that are
in excess of $3 million,” he said.
At the high end of the price scale would be a yacht like Carver
Yachts’ Marquis 65, a craft with twin Mercedes-Benz diesel engines
and a price tag around $3 million.
“There’s a significant number of people that come to the SCMA boat
show that can afford to write a check for cash for this,” said Lee
Scheele of show exhibitor Bayport Yachts.
The shows have a bit of rivalry between them. Both McIntosh and
Geoffroy said their companies were the first to schedule their shows
for this week. Disagreements between the two events have also taken
boating from the harbor to the court system.
Last year, McIntosh secured an injunction against Newport Dunes
and the Southern California Marine Assn. to prevent them from calling
their exhibition the “Newport Beach Boat Show.”
McIntosh said he has an open case in state court against the
Southern California Marine Assn. and Newport Dunes, but declined to
discuss specifics Tuesday.
Regarding the court case, Geoffroy said, “The bottom line is it’s
legal in this country to have competition.”
Admission to each show is $10. The Newport Boat Show is set to
begin at noon, and Southern California Marine Assn.’s event is
scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.
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