The first thing you want to do when you go to the Southampton Boat Show is get up in the air – 100 feet up in the air. You’ve heard of the London Eye? Well, meet the Honda Boat Show Eye, just as iconic and eye-catching – and FUN! Step on and you’ll be lifted up into the sky for a panoramic view of Europe’s largest outdoor boat show. From your family-sized capsule you’ll have a gull’s-eye view of the attractions that make the Southampton boat show a great day out for all the family.
Spread beneath you is the 300-berth marina with thousands of boats of all shapes and sizes. Look to one side and there’s the Earl of Pembroke, a 1945 three-masted square-rigger which you can visit when you get back onto terra firma. Over there you’ll see the Honda stand, with boats from alliance partners Highfield, AMT and Guymarine. If you’re a keen sailor you’ll want to check out the latest version of Honda’s popular BF2.3 single-cylinder outboard motor, making its world debut at the Southampton Boat Show.
Turn towards the sea and you can watch novice sailors take to the water in the hugely popular Try-a-Boat initiative, which allows adults and children from eight upwards to try a motorboat, sailing dinghy or yacht for free. If you have the kids with you this will be first on their list when you get back down. The Wet Wheels experience enables disabled visitors to take to the water too, in a specially adapted Cheetah Catamaran.
Back among the stands traditional crafts are celebrated in displays and talks by the Wooden Boatbuilders’ Trade Association, and the painstaking Practical Boat Owner magazine restoration project of a 60s Snapdragon 23. Now you know where everything is, you have time to take in this stunning stretch of sea, bustling with ships and boats, large and small. And then it’s down to the ground and you’ll know exactly where to head for the main attractions having seen it through the Honda eye.
Earlier this month the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship saw 8-16 year olds race rigid inflatable boats against the clock around a series of marks including a slalom. Prizes for victors included a Honwave T40 RIB with a Honda BF20 engine and a Highfield 460 RIB with a Honda BF50 engine.
Honda has always been a key part of the Southampton Boat Show, from encouraging youngsters to take up sailing to showing off the technology and expertise that comes from 50 years of building outboard engines. Now the Honda Boat Show Eye puts it on top of the world, and takes you along for the ride.
For full details of what’s on at the Southampton Boat Show and how to buy tickets click here.
