Covering six days and spanning from the historic Nelson’s Dockyard Marina in English Harbour to the Falmouth Harbour and Antigua Yacht Club Marinas, the show marks the beginning of the season for this sleepy island solace. We sat down to speak with the show’s Chairman, Paul Deeth, to find out more.
Paul began by speaking about the long history of the show; “1961 was the first official charter show in the Caribbean - one of the first pretty much in the world - and it’s been growing in numbers and strength since then.” Of course, with Nelson’s Dockyard as the historic setting, it’s no surprise that the yachting community has always favoured this location.
“The show in length gets bigger every year and in the tonnage,” he continued. “You know, the numbers are good… we’re in the 80s again this year, it’s looking very good [...] 300 brokers are attending the show which is great!” But it’s not just the location that draws the industry to this show…
New and exciting superyachts have chosen to exhibit their charter-ability here for years, with this year as no exception. Paul explains, “There are some new boats, one is GO, a Turquoise, and that’s brand new to the charter market, so there’s a lot of buzz around and that’s one of the great things about the Antigua show.”
In fact, the docks had a number of particular exciting superyachts on show this year. Alongside GO’s dazzling blue hull, Oceanco’s Alfa Nero stood proud at 82m in Falmouth Harbour, showcasing it’s inviting infinity pool for all to see.
Sherakhan also attended, her classic lines and 70m ‘go anywhere’ hull, providing the perfect contrast to the more modern vessels. The largest in the show was Lurssen’s 90m Phoenix 2 an expansive and extraordinary superyacht that is home to 27 crew for the ultimate charter experience.
Returning next year for the 58th edition the confirmed dates for the show are 4-10th December 2019. But for more on this year’s events, watch our round-up video and see the interview in full, above.