The discussion about shortening the term of the Watersports exhibition in Friedrichshafen is not new. Until now, a majority has always been in favour of keeping it at nine days. But Felix Klarmann, Interboot Project Manager since 1 July 2022, is aware of the current situation:
Staff are scarce everywhere and hard to find. Having staff on duty over a period of nine days and then over two weekends is time-consuming to organise and requires a lot of resources."
Not only during his Interboot premiere in September 2022, but also at subsequent boat shows and in phone calls with exhibitors, he was asked about the topic so often that he wanted to clarify the situation with a new exhibitor survey.
Not only exhibitors from the most recent Interboot were surveyed, but also former exhibitors from the years 2015 to 2021. Among the current exhibitors, the vote was clearly in favour of five days. In the separate survey of former Interboot participants, it emerged that the long duration was "at least one of the reasons" for their abstinence, according to Klarmann. "That made the decision easy for us," explains the project manager.
In line with the wishes of the vast majority, Interboot will only last five days instead of nine from 2024. The date has already been set: 25 to 29 September 2024.
Of course, we will offer the usual varied and high-quality programme, just in a more condensed form," emphasises the project manager.
Bringing former exhibitors back on board
Parallel to the international water sports exhibition, the InterDive the international trade fair for divers, snorkellers and travel enthusiasts. Like Interboot, it will take place from 26 to 29 September 2024 at the exhibition grounds in Friedrichshafen. The early announcement of the date for 2024 is intended to give companies sufficient lead time.
There are already signs that the compression to five days next year will also mean that we will be able to bring former exhibitors who have been asking for a shorter duration back on board and thus offer all water sports fans even more in a shorter time."
Interboot 2023 for a final nine days
This year, Interboot will run one last time for nine days, from 23 September to 1 October 2023. "The decisive factors for this are current contracts and agreements as well as the planning lead time for service providers and exhibitors," says Felix Klarmann. He wants to use these nine days to push the Friedrichshafen water sports exhibition further in the direction "where we were before Corona". And he wants to build on the 61st Interboot, his successful premiere as project manager last year. While Interboot Friedrichshafen was already the only German boat show to prove resistant to the coronavirus - it did not fall victim to the wave of cancellations in 2020 or 2021 and instead caused a sensation with two special editions adapted to the pandemic situation - in 2022 it was able to play its trump card as a hands-on trade fair for the first time again, allowing visitors to experience water sports in all its facets up close. The Interboot Surf Days (standing wave) made a comeback, as did the SUP Team Challenge. Above all, however, the exhibition lake returned to the Interboot programme as a testing ground and stage for breathtaking shows. Let's remember the finale of Interboot Friedrichshafen 2022 as an example:
Sunday, 25 September, 5.15 pm. The 61st Interboot is on the home straight. Exhibition Director Klaus Wellmann and Project Manager Felix Klarmann have already drawn a first, positive balance and published it in the official final report together with equally positive exhibitor statements. A final highlight is in the offing on the exhibition lake, symbolising the success of the International Water Sports Exhibition at Messe Friedrichshafen 2022.
The public as "fuel": a superlative jet ski show
Hundreds of people line the banks of the artificial show and test area as presenter Christian Kirsch announces a final 15-minute show with an extraordinary athlete: 26-year-old Belgian Niels Willems is a three-time European jet ski pro freestyle champion and has already rocked eleven of these show blocks over the two weekends of the fair with his 180 hp, 102 kg Rickter Ninja Pro V2 - with tricks that seem to defy gravity and leave the spectators in awe.
"Niels' jet ski runs on petrol, but Niels' fuel is the audience," says the presenter, heating up the atmosphere in the arena as the rider, who began his professional career ten years ago, rides his jet ski, specially designed for extreme freestyle, in a few fast, tight circles to "build" the wave he is about to jump over. And he sets off a veritable firework display of tricks: 360-degree rotations left and right, repeated backflips, even jumps with one and a half turns around his own axis. In the pro competitions, such runs last two minutes, at the Interboot longer than seven times that, three times a day!
Niels' show ends with a series of backflips very close to the audience, right up to the limit of his strength and the fairground lake. And the audience gives Niels his fuel. Accompanied by a roaring wave of la-ola, Niels Willems pulls his Rickter Ninja Pro V2 up into the air for no fewer than 14 backflips in a row, presenter Christian Kirsch counts each one out loud, then the end of the trade fair lake sets the limit.
A great Interboot finale and a fantastic comeback for the trade fair lake, which was used again for the first time after a two-year break: in addition to the aforementioned jet ski show and motosurfing demo rides, it was also used for product presentations such as the new e-Finn from JayKay which electrifies SUPs, kayaks and other water sports equipment via plug & play. DLRG rescue demonstrations with a dog rescue team were just as much a part of the programme as the perennial favourite "Messe-See-Patent" with trial sails and electrically powered inflatable boats.
"Our aim is to appeal to experienced water sports enthusiasts as well as beginners and families with our programme and to make water sports an emotional experience for everyone. After the coronavirus restrictions of the last two years, it was very important to us to reactivate hands-on activities and the show programme on the exhibition lake and also to make more boats available for testing in the Interboot harbour again," says Project Manager Felix Klarmann.
Unique: Combination of indoor exhibition and in-water boat show
The Interboot harbour the strongest asset of the Friedrichshafen water sports exhibition, only made a small, muted comeback in 2022, partly due to the extremely low water level of Lake Constance. In 2023, the trade fair team led by Felix Klarmann wants toUnique selling point of Interboot to new life and let it shine with the flair of the golden days of Interboot. No other German boat show under indoor roofs has such an attractive exhibition harbour at the same time, where boats can be experienced and tested in their element. Conversely, no other in-water boat show in Germany also has such attractive and spacious exhibition halls as Interboot Friedrichshafen.
On its penultimate nine-day cruise with 348 exhibitors and participating companies on board, theInterboot 2022 attracts around 49,800 water sports fans on board. That's 4200 more than at the anniversary edition in 2021, which is also the benchmark for Interboot 2023. Programme details for the 62nd edition will be available shortly on the Interboot website and will be continuously updated and supplemented from then on. The Online Ticket Shop is already open.
