Boat show season is upon us and there is so much to think about, especially if you’re going straight from busy trips or charters. Here’s a handy checklist to help you out:
- Try to find out in advance if you are hosting any events during the show; Brokers’ lunches; theme parties; are you part of the yacht hop, etc.?
- What can you research and get ready for those events? Do you need to hire tables or equipment? Is the theme something you already have to hand or do you also need to plan this?
- Will you need to organise extra help for any of the days? Do any of your crew know somebody? Try the new green deckie that just came from the crew house – he’ll have lots of unemployed friends! Or do you need to put an advert out or ask your favourite crew agent?
- Do you need to liaise with your chef regarding meal services? Are you serving canapes throughout the day for visitors? How often will these be ready and how will they be served?
- Will the chef be able to provide lunch for the crew each day or can you make an alternative plan? Lots of companies at the shows offer free lunches for crew.
- Find out from the captain or organisers what the logistics are for getting provisions or large items on board during the show. This may only be at certain times and you might not be able to get a car or van close to the boat for offloading.
- How are you going to set up the cabins? Will you stage one room as ‘the kids’ room’? Will you show off different ways of configuring the beds? What will you have playing on the TVs?
- Will you have a table fully set up? What décor are you planning to use and do you have a backup if it’s windy or you see the boat next door doing the exact same thing!?
- Florists will be busy around boat shows – can you get at least a rough order in early? Are there any small arrangements you can do yourself?
- Do you have a plan of who will be doing showings and a schedule of when they are? It’s always great to try and let everyone have a little break during the day to look around the show, where possible.
- If you’re going to be doing tours, it can be helpful to have a trial run or get the person who’s done the most or who knows the boat best. Do a trial run so you know which route to take, and any fun facts to point out.
- Are you ready for questions? Read through the boat spec so you know the draught; what engines you have; when the last refit was, etc. These are all favourite broker questions and never fear falling back on your stew training….”let me find out for you”!
- Can you get yourself and your team involved in any workshops or training that will be going on? There are normally some really interesting things happening, but you may need to sign up.
- Similarly, are you or the chef going to enter any of the competitions? They can be so much fun and great for team bonding but also require some pre-planning!
- Are you handing out any giveaways? If so, do you have enough and where are you planning on displaying them?
- Finally, advice from an old captain… ‘if you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean’! Make sure the boat is spotless at all times!
With both the MYBA and Palma boat shows fast approaching, take a deep breath, make your lists and put your boat show smile on (you know the one!) – and enjoy! I’ll see you there ?
