The Southampton Boat Show is the biggest water based boat show in Europe. It has been held every September since 1969 in Mayflower Park, Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is one of the two major annual boat show

Boat show

A boat show is a public exhibition or trade fair of current boat models, debuts, concept vessels, or out-of-production classics. Due to the nature of the industry building around yachting and nautical tourism, a boat show may be a social event...

s in the United Kingdom, alongside the London Boat Show

London Boat Show

The London Boat Show is held each January at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London, just opposite the O2 and the centre of London's business and entertainment centre. It is a very large event, now in its 54th year, which uses ExCeL's two 32,500 square metre halls...

. Both are organised by National Boat Shows, which is a subsidiary of the British Marine Federation, the trade association for the UK boating industry.

The 2007 event, the 39th of its kind held since 1968, was publicised as The Big Southampton Boat Show, in association with ITV Meridian, and was held from September 14 to September 23. At the 2007 event there was a chance to see HMS Bounty

HMS Bounty

HMS Bounty , famous as the scene of the Mutiny on the Bounty on 28 April 1789, was originally a three-masted cargo ship, the Bethia, purchased by the British Admiralty, then modified and commissioned as His Majesty's Armed Vessel the...

, a ship featured in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End..

History

Since 1997, the Boat Show has been a ten-day event, after the passing of the Southampton International Boat Show Act 1997

Southampton International Boat Show Act 1997

The Southampton International Boat Show Act 1997 is an Act of Parliament, that was an amendment to the Hampshire Act 1983 that allows Mayflower Park to close for 10 days instead of 9 during the Southampton International Boat Show....

. Past events have attracted a large number of visitors, with more than 123,000 attending the 2004 event. The 2005 event featured a makeshift beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

, with tonnes of sand being imported to the event

Exhibitions

The exhibitors at the Boat Show consist mostly of boat builders

Boat building

Boat building, one of the oldest branches of engineering, is concerned with constructing the hulls of boats and, for sailboats, the masts, spars and rigging.-Parts:* Bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull...

, boat owners, chandler

Ship chandler

A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...

s and other sailing companies showcasing their new products. At the 2007 show over 600 exhibitors were present.