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.