By Abdul Basit

GDYNIA, Poland: The third edition of the POLBOAT YACHTING FESTIVAL concluded successfully on July 24, 2022, in Gdynia, Poland. The Festival was held at one of Poland’s most modern Polish yacht marinas – Marina Yacht Park in Gdynia, owned by the PHN Group.

More than 20,000 visitors visited around 100 vessels from leading Polish shipyards and foreign ones available on the Polish market. The four-day non-ticketed event also witnessed over a dozen premieres, including several world premieres.

Michał Bak, General Secretary at POLBOAT, said: “We are very pleased with this year’s edition. The organization of the Festival this year was very intensive because, in addition to the nearly 50% larger number of exhibitors, we prepared an attractive program rich in water sports shows – jet skis, flyboarding, kayaking, jet boarding as well as a number of accompanying events, boat premieres, business meetings, cocktails, because the Polboat Festival is a great opportunity to meet for the whole industry, in particular the members of the Polboat. It was quite a challenge to coordinate this and we are pleased with the final success.”

Michał Bak added: “The weather was good, so visitors this year were also a record number, and most importantly, we already have the first information about the vessels sold at the Gdynia floating show, although compared to last year, you can see a certain difference in the demand for new boats resulting from rising boat prices and high inflation in Poland.”

It was a record edition, with the largest number of exhibitors (including several foreign companies) and visitors so far, as well as in terms of attractions prepared by the organizers. POLBOAT YACHTING FESTIVAL was organized by the Polish Chamber of Yachting Industry and Water Sports – Polish Yachts.

POLBOAT YACHTING FESTIVAL is a unique opportunity to get familiar with the current offer of Polish producers and distributors of vessels and to present sailing yachts, motor boats and sports equipment on the water.

The ceremonial opening was traditionally held on the Sunreef Yachts catamaran (this time it was 60 Sunreef Power), and was attended by important personalities from the industry and state and local administration – President of POLBOAT Sebastian Nietupski, President of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency – Krzysztof Drynda, President of the Management Board of the Polish Holding Real Estate Marcin Mazurek, Vice-President of PHN Piotr Przednowek, President of the Polish Sailing Association – Tomasz Chamera, Vice-President of the Polish Motorboat and Water Skiing Association – Tomasz Wencel, President of the Pomeranian District Sailing Association – Bogusław Witkowski, Director of the Tourism Department of the Marshal’s Office of the Pomorskie District – Marta Chełkowska, President of Dalmor SA – Katarzyna Stanulewicz and Managing Director of DALMOR Management – Wioletta Magin.

Galeon Yachts

Galeon Yachts, a world leader in innovative design solutions, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary, presented as many as seven different models of luxury motor yachts, Cobrey showed three models, including its largest 50-foot motor yacht, and the debut at the Gdynia Floating Show, the Vulcan Yachts shipyard presented a slightly smaller vessel – JP 47. Regarding motor units over 10 m, you could see in Gdynia, among others Northman 1200 and two vessels from the Balt Yacht shipyard.

In turn, among motorboats less than 10 m long, apart from prestigious foreign brands such as Windy, Flipper, Nimbus, Malibu, Alfastreet, Bayliner, Rand or Saxdor (most of their vessels or parts are produced in Polish shipyards), there were also Polish brands, many of them young but with great potential – Futuro Boats, Nautic Yachts, Lamdo Yachts and VTS Boats. It is worth noting here that one of the most famous Polish producers in this category, Parker Poland, showed as many as four different models.

Houseboats

Houseboats were very popular, among which this year the Nomadream 1200 Double Decker stood out, with a modern and very interesting unit, but of course there was also the biggest Polish producer – La Mare from Bydgoszcz.

Sailing yacht

Sailing yacht enthusiasts had a dozen or so units to see, including 2 Bavaria Yachts models, 4 Viko Yachts and Hanse models each, Maxus 35, Dehler 42 and Jacht2020 from the PRO AIR shipyard.

This year’s exhibition also offered visitors a variety of vessels. In addition to sailing and motor yachts, you could see SeaDoo and Kawasaki water scooters, Rigid Inflatable Boats from Sportis, Airslide hovercraft, as well as Awake jetboards and Hobie kayaks presented by PASSIONAUTICA.

GDYNIA POLBOAT AWARDS

On the first day of the Exhibition, the awards of the President of the City of Gdynia – GDYNIA POLBOAT AWARDS were presented. The jury consisted of: Stanisław Iwiński – editor-in-chief of Yachtsmen.eu, Robert Blazejak – designer and owner of Blazejak Yacht Design, Jacek Centkowski – world-famous yacht designer and constructor, awarded the following units:

In the sailing yachts category – Bavaria C42

In the category of motor boats up to 11 m – Alfastreet 23

In the category of motor boats, the area of 11 m – Balt 37 Grand

In addition, a special award was granted – for the Galeon shipyard for 40 years of great development of the company and promotion of the Polish yachting industry in the world.

The statuette was prepared by a famous sculptor from Tricity, Adam Stachowicz. The awards ceremony was held at the hospitable Courtyard by Marriott Gdynia Waterfront hotel, and after the official part, Inter Cars – Exide Cocktail Party began.

Companies offering sailing and motorboat accessories, navigation equipment, designer clothing as well as financing and insurance offers for boats exhibited in the tent halls set up on the waterfront. At the event, you could also see the latest models of motorhomes from Elcamp, Mercedes-Benz cars from BMG Goworowski, exclusive clothes from Tailors Club, sunglasses from Optyk Kochański or rest in a special relaxation zone of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

In addition, visitors had the opportunity to meet many interesting characters, incl. the famous captain Roman Paszke, sailor Jurand Goszczyński, who won the last regatta with the Hundred through the Atlantic, or Ania and Bartek Dawidowski (Sail Oceans).

During this year’s event, other important issues were also discussed, such as the development of vocational education for the yachting industry on the example of Saxdor Academy, investing in yachts, communication systems, ESG in business or the problem of ocean pollution.

Over the weekend, the POLBOAT organized a special edition of the Grow Boating project #ZostanWodniakiem, i.e. free cruises on sailing and motor yachts for those who would just like to discover a new passion and join thousands of people spending their time on the water.

The POLBOAT YACHTNG FESTIVAL event was extremely successful, and this year, the arrival of foreign journalists from such media as: IBI Magazine, The Yacht Style, Barche, Afloat Magazine, The World Of Yachts and Boats, Nauticki Magazin, Asia Pacyfic Boating and Force One Monaco, was also organized.

Finally, it is worth adding that at the same time the Gdynia Sailing Days regatta was held in the nearby marina.

The organizer of POLBOAT YACHTING FESTIVAL is POLBOAT – The Polish Chamber of Marine Industry and Water Sports. The Strategic Partner is Marina Yacht Park owned by the PHN Group.

The partners of the event were: the City of Gdynia, the Polish Yachting Association, the Polish Motorboat and Water Skiing Association, Maritime Economy Forum, Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Mercedes-Benz BMG Goworowski, Tailors Club, Courtyard by Marriott, InterCars,Exide, Banglob, Taurus Sea Power, Sztorm Grupa, PRO AIR-Jacht2020 and! Pomorskie and Pomorska Regional Tourist Organization.

The media patronage is held by: Forbes, Prestiż Magazyn Trójmiejski, Trojmasto.pl, Dziennik Bałtycki, Nasze Miasto, Magazyn Pomorski, Radio Gdańsk, Magazyn Wiatr, NoweZagle.pl, Yachtsmen.eu, Jachting, Jachting Motorowy and GospodarkaMorska.pl – abdulbasit@theuaenews.com