Page 116 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2016

SPORTS & OUTDOORS a whole yacht of boats MAKING WAVES
THE 2016 GULFCOAST Yacht and Boat Show expands to two weekends, April 8-10 and April 15-17.
Gulfcoast Yacht and Boat Show
888.452.5742 www.gulfcoastyachtandboatshow.com
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of Gulfcoast Yacht and Boat Show
Largest boat show on the Gulf takes place this month
The Gulfcoast Yacht and Boat Show will be expanded to two weekends this year, April 8 – 10 and April 15 – 17, at the Gulfport Municipal Marina. The show is presented by Island View Casino Resort and is the largest boat show on the Gulf.
In addition to the second weekend to see vendors and boats, other new attractions include a beach concert and party each Friday, a race boat display, “World’s Richest Cobia Tournament,” seminars and hands-on classes and more covered displays.
“Boats are the main attraction but we have accessory vendors ranging from large diesel and outboard engines to electronics, art, apparel, docks and gadgets,” said promoter Rob Lynch. “We’ll have everything to get you started for the summer boating season.”
The show will include boat brokers and dealers, boat builders and manufacturers and more than 100 vendors and supplier exhibits.
The show began in a small facility in Orange Beach, Ala., in 2010 and has grown into the $43 million Gulfport Municipal Marina, which was totally rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina and is the largest marina on the Northern Gulf.
“People thought I was crazy starting a new show in a small, off- the-beaten-path community, during the height of the recession, but we did. In fact, the show doubled in size every year from 2010 until we just outgrew the facility in 2013. By that time we had already become the largest boat show on the Gulf and where do you move a show that takes up 300 slips, eight football fields of exhibits, and attracts over 15,000 attendees?” Lynch said.
“I scrambled and began a search and just when I had almost given up, there it was — the Gulfport Municipal Marina. I explained my situation to the Gulfport mayor, my plans, and my dreams, and within a day we struck a deal and the show was moved to Gulfport. It’s a dream marina and the only place fitting to hold the largest boat show on the Gulf.”
116 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • April 2016
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net