Antigua Charter Yacht Show going full steam ahead – organisers say event unimpeded by marina fire

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The show attracts some of the world’s most luxurious vessels to Antigua each year (Photo courtesy YachtCharterFleet.com)
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By Robert A Emmanuel

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It has become a signature event of Antigua’s yachting scene, kicking off the welcomed influx of vessels that arrive into the country each December for the new season.

The directors of the Antigua Charter Yacht Show are continuing to prepare for the 62nd edition of the much-loved event – and are assuring patrons that the show will be unaffected by the catastrophic October 2 fire at the Yacht Club Marina.

The blaze which destroyed several businesses and left hundreds of employees out of work has been a major blow to the community around Falmouth and English harbours.

In a statement to regular participants, show organisers said, “Antigua looks forward to welcoming yachts and crew, brokers, and agents” and that they were “eternally grateful for the overwhelming concern and support that has poured in”.

“We strongly encourage attendance to the show to help the local community to financially recover,” they added.

Event chairman Paul Deeth noted that the show will take place at Nelson’s Dockyard and spoke more about the show’s importance to the English Harbour community.

“It has always been there to start off the season, so we know we are going to have 100 yachts in the dockyard or in the marina and that gives jobs to everybody, whether they are taxi drivers or a manager,” he explained.

“For Antigua as a whole, it brings in a load of income because all the yachts are there visiting, crews are spending, so we have over 1,000 people to the show as we have got international brokers and vendors that stay in hotels.”

This year, Deeth said he expects the show to be back to its pre-pandemic numbers.

“It is looking big again; we are nearly at 70 yachts which is back to pre-Covid level, so we are excited by that,” he said, noting that last year’s attendance figure was around 33 yachts.

The show which is aimed at international yacht brokers and other industry partners will run from December 4 to 9.

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