6:00am | Two young sailors with an impressive resume of sailing experience—one of them is considered the world’s youngest soloist to circumnavigate the globe—will be at the Long Beach Yacht and Boat Show this weekend. Additionally, boats ranging from $5,000 to $1.6 million will be on display in the water and for sale.
The show, which began on Thursday and runs through Sunday, is the 42nd annual event produced in Long Beach by the Southern California Marine Association. The show’s prime sponsor is the Automobile Club of Southern California. The Long Beach Boat Show is being staged at Shoreline Village Marina. And estimated 20,000 people attend the show over its four days.
The Long Beach Boat Show is being staged at Shoreline Village Marina. An estimated 20,000 people attend the show over its four days.
A few “special appearances” are set for the show. Zac Sunderland, who at the age of 17 became the youngest person to successfully sail solo around the world, will be at the show on Saturday and Sunday. Sunderland departed Marina del Rey on June 14, 2008 in a 36-foot Islander sailboat and a little over a year later he returned to Los Angeles. Sunderland’s sister, Jessica Sunderland, made the news earlier this year when she attempted to sail solo around the world before she was rescued in the Indian Ocean in June when weather conditions damaged her mast and she was forced to activate activated emergency beacons and was rescued two days later.
Jessica Watson from Australia will also be on hand. On Oct. 18, 2009, the 16-year old departed Sydney in a 33’6″ Sparkman & Stephen S&S 34 with a course charted to cover over 23,000 nautical miles of ocean during the following eight months as she solo circumnavigated the globe. Her journey took her over the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and back to Sydney on May 15, 2010. She will be at the show on Saturday and Sunday to promote her new book “True Spirit,” will also be available for purchase and signing at the boat show.
Also featured at the show are hundreds of motor yachts, cruisers, sailboats, fishing boats, performance sport boats, family trailerables, ski boats, electric boats, inflatable’s, pontoons, and personal watercraft. Attendees can browse and board a wide variety of vessels, talk to industry experts, and attend a variety of seminar programs.
There will be boat dealers with boats from Marina del Rey to San Diego involved in the show, but expect a great deal of representation from Long Beach, said boat show spokesman Bill Long. “Long Beach is the boat capital of California. There are more boats registered in Long Beach than any other city in the state,” Long said.
While the boating grew over the last decade when the economy was healthy, over the last year and a half it has slowed down due to the economy, Long stated, adding, “that said, boating is a buyers’ market with fantastic values.”
Show hours are today (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), Saturday (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.). Tickets are $12 and available at the event. Children age 12 and under get in free. Parking is available at Shoreline Village Marina.