‘Why it was all-change at Düsseldorf Boat Show 2025’ – Matt Sheahan

Matthew Sheahan

What do the changes on show at Boot Düsseldorf mean for the next year of yachting? Matt Sheahan reports from a much-changed Düsseldorf Boat Show

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Close to the Spinlock stand at Boot Düsseldorf earlier this year were three white plastic dogs, canine mannequins sporting three sizes of the Spinlock ‘Fido’, the company’s dog flotation vest.

Despite being featureless statues, when real dogs passed by they seemed to know exactly what they were looking at as they stopped to take a sniff. Even when there was more than one dog present, they still explored the mannequins rather than each other. It was comical to watch.

Once Fido had been inspected by each real dog, it was time for a quick drink from the strategically placed water bowl before moving on – at least they would have done had their owners not inevitably been distracted in the meantime by the Spinlock stand’s wares.

“It’s been like this all week,” said one of the Spinlock staff. “We didn’t intend this to happen, we just brought the models to exhibit our new lifejackets. But the response has been impressive and has brought all kinds of people onto our stand.”

As I strolled through the show’s 18 huge halls that provide a spectacular reminder as to just how big the watersports scene is, it was also apparent that tough times often bring out the most creative solutions. Boot Düsseldorf 2025 had plenty of examples of this.

Be it power or sail, it seems new boat sales are facing challenging times right now. Fairline Yachts’ precarious financial position was just one of several talking points on the powerboat side of the exhibition, while in the yacht halls it was the number vacant spaces that were being discussed among the regular show goers.

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In Hall 16, which has been yacht central for as long as I can remember, giant potted plants and casual seating tried to mask the areas where some of the biggest European builders would normally have been. But it takes more than a few pot plants to disguise the absence of Hanse, Bavaria, Dehler, Oyster and Elan who were among those that had chosen not to come this year.

The theories for the lack of attendance were varied, the two most popular being the costs of exhibiting at Boot and the big increases in production costs that have wiped out any profit on boats that were sold on long lead times.

Among those that were in attendance were some exciting new launches from builders who’d shown us fancy renderings last year as they explained what was in store for 2025. Now they were here for real.

X-Yachts was proudly displaying one of its most ambitious design projects to date with the launch of its ORC-focussed race boat, the XR41. For a luxury production builder that has spent so much time developing its extensive range of performance cruisers, to invest in a fully optimised production racer was an impressive display of self-confidence.

Nautor Swan has done much the same with the ClubSwan 43 and 28, two exciting new models that were also revealed 12 months ago and promised for this year.

Grand Soleil was showcasing its super-sleek, super-Italian, Grand Soleil Blue, not just good looking but claimed to be 100% recyclable.

Last year French builders Wauquiez revealed renderings that looked more like radical blue sky thinking than a boat that would become reality – and yet here it was, the all-new Wauquiez 55 (see Yachting World’s YouTube channel for Toby Hodges’s boat tours and highlights from Boot).

Saffier, best known for its range of day cruisers, had taken a similarly big leap into new territory with its SL46 Med, an elegant performance cruiser.

Contest was revelling in the success of its immaculately presented 63-footer that won the luxury cruiser category of European Yacht of the Year while J-Boats was wearing its winner’s badge with pride too after the J/40 took the award for best performance cruiser.

All were drawing attention and all were displaying new, innovative and stylish features.

But if the daily queues to get on board were a reflection of popularity, Beneteau’s new First 30 was a winner from the off. Designed as a planing 30-footer that’s as much fun to race as it is to cruise, Beneteau has gone back to basics and created a modern day version of its hugely popular First 30 from the 1970s.

So, while the world’s biggest indoor marine show provided mixed messages about the state of the industry, exhibitors prepared to follow their noses were pulling in the crowds.

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