Strictly Sail Pacific 2010 – well organized and featuring lots of educational seminars.


The Strictly Sail Pacific boat show in Jack London Square wrapped yesterday and I’d say it was head and shoulders above last year’s show in terms of organization, layout and educational opportunities. 


For the first time, a major portion of the show’s exhibitors were housed inside in the old Barnes & Noble building which gave the show a bigger feel.  Two other larger tents were outside but also in the square.  This layout meant that the show was more compact and the space that used to be occupied by the old tents was used for additional parking. 


About 100 seminars were offered by renowned speakers like John & Amanda Neal, Brion Toss, Jack Klang, George Day and Bob Bitchin’ from Latitudes & Attitudes.  They were all surprisingly well attended and I saw people with worn out schedules running from one “classroom” to the next to absorb pearls of wisdom from the industry’s sailing and cruising elite. Maybe this event will be known as the learning show in the future which is not a bad positioning for it. 


However, despite the rumor that Strictly Sail turned away booth exhibitors once they sold out of space, the selection of boats on display was sparse.  Catalina, Hunter, Beneteau and Jenneau were all there but brought fewer models.  Hylas brought their 46 and despite it being my favorite it would have been nice to see at least the 54 join her sister.  It’s too bad that a West Coast show can’t rally manufacturers to trot out their whole line and get more builders to showcase their vessels.  That said, show organizers made a smart move by combining new and brokerage boats together and even adding a power boat basin for the lonely stink potter that may have wondered in. 



Another smart move was to have the America’s Cup on display on Thursday and open to the public.  Guarded by two gentleman in black suits, white gloves and mirrored sunglasses (inside at tent), the cup sat cordoned off with ropes.  I asked how much it weighted.  Answer = 35 lbs.  I speculated out loud if that would be hard to run with.  Geez, these secret agent types have no sense of humor.


Now that Strictly Sail has itself organized, it needs to grow back to the size of a few years ago to give the West Coast a strong sail show.  I’m sure we could fit another 20 exhibitors in there and definitely another 20 boats. 

Written by: Zuzana Prochazka
Zuzana Prochazka is a writer and photographer who freelances for a dozen boating magazines and websites. A USCG 100 Ton Master, Zuzana has cruised, chartered and skippered flotillas in many parts of the world and serves as a presenter on charter destinations and topics. She is the Chair of the New Product Awards committee, judging innovative boats and gear at NMMA and NMEA shows, and currently serves as immediate past president of Boating Writers International. She contributes to Boats.com and YachtWorld.com, and also blogs regularly on her boat review site, TalkoftheDock.com.