(Dusseldorf, Germany)- Here’s the “Inside Edition” from Alan Johnstone at JBoats: “I recently attended the Dusseldorf Boat show in the southwest of Germany where our build team from J/Composites set-up a beautiful stand featuring the new J/Boat E-series range including the all-new 36' J/112E, and the amazingly successful IRC 40' J/122E. The International J/70 speedster was also on display as part of the Dusseldorf Yacht Club booth and promoting the Segel Bundesliga sailing league. It is clear that the International J/70 is now the hottest sailboat class in Europe and many new sailing leagues based on the J/70 are rapidly growing and expanding across Europe and Asia. By this summer over 1050 J/70s will be sailing throughout the world.
If you have never been to the Dusseldorf show, then this is one to put on the must-see/must-go list.
The historic city of Dusseldorf is only 10 minutes from an
international airport and filled with great shops, pubs and restaurants.
The boat show itself is 10 minutes in the other direction and it's the
largest and most extensive that I have ever seen. There are 17
different very large halls in one enormous compound with nearly
everything that you can imagine for sailing (and any other boating or
watersport activity for that matter) on display. From the most basic
small dinghy to the most deluxe custom yachts and almost everything in
between, it's all there! It's such a big compound that a full
indoor-outdoor soccer (football) stadium, Esprit Arena, (home of the
German soccer club Fortuna Dusseldorf), lives at one end...next to a
very large hotel. In the center of this huge compound are outdoor open
restaurants offering up variations of knackwurst sausage and fried
potato, beer and other German cuisine.Attendance for the boat show was very high over the first few days and reports received since from dealers are that the second weekend was also very busy, they reported good traffic even during the week... The E series J/s were well received with many serious clients & journalists stopping by to tour the new J/112E. The J/112E was also nominated for the 2016 European Boat of the Year contest this year. Several of the judges stopped by the stand over the first weekend to inspect the boat. It is an honor to be recognized as a nominee in the performance category for this prestigious award. We will surely invite these folks for test sails to evaluate the boat on the water this spring and summer. Be sure to look for editorial reviews and boat test articles later in 2016.
The
resurgent International J/22 Class was represented at the show as well
with a dedicated booth just around the corner from the J/Boat stand
displaying a fully rigged J/22. Friendly folks from the German J/22
Class, were on hand to greet owners and sailors, sign up new members and
promote the 2016 class schedule for Europe. There is North American
J/22 action in 2016 to report as well! This year the 2016 J/22 World
Championship will take place August 19-25 at CORK/Sail Kingston, in
Kingston, Ontario, Canada so there will be building momentum in the US
and Canada as the event approaches. New growth in J/22 activity in
Holland, Germany and elsewhere across Europe is exciting, contagious and
great to see!I returned to J/Boats in Newport energized with new design ideas, new enthusiasm and excited for the start of the 2016 sailing season. The Dusseldorf boat show was a unique opportunity for me to meet and spend time with several J/Boat owners, the enthusiastic J/Dealers from across Europe, many industry folks and our build partners from J/Composites. It was most enjoyable to spend time walking through the sailboat halls to explore a wealth of diverse ideas, interesting sailboats, concepts and boat equipment on display. I can safely say it was the best boat show I have ever attended. Unfortunately, I only made it through a few of the halls on this trip but I'm planning to return next year to discover much more.”