Annual show to bring hundreds of boats to the Fairgrounds
2010-02-10
More than 500 new boats ranging from personal watercraft to luxury yachts will be on display at the New York State Fairgrounds this week during the Central New York Boat Show and Sale.
The event, Upstate New York's largest annual boat show, will begin Wednesday, Feb. 10 and run through Sunday, Feb. 14. The show will fill more than 300,000 square feet in the Fairground's three largest exhibit buildings: The Americraft Center of Progress, the Toyota Exhibit Center and the Horticulture Building.
Fifty marine dealers from throughout the region will offer a wide array of vessels priced from as little as $1,300 to more than $350,000, according to Drew Wickham, the show's organizer.
"The dealers on display here are all from Central New York, so any boat bought here is a boat that is bought in Central New York," Drew Wickham said. "We're in the heart of the Finger Lakes, and boating is bigger than people may think."
The recreational boating industry adds more than $600 million to the region's economy every year, and more than $1.8 billion to New York's economy as a whole, according to a 2004 Cornell University study. Central New York includes the Finger Lakes, parts of the Erie Canal and much of New York's Lake Ontario shoreline.
"The Fairgrounds has hosted this show for at least 40 years, and it's become an annual winter tradition for thousands of people," State Fair Director Dan O'Hara said. "We are proud to support this important segment of our economy and to help promote tourism in communities along our lakes and rivers."
The Boat Show will once again offer free boater safety certification classes to youths age 10-17 who want to be able to legally pilot a boat. The course - offered through a partnership of New York Sea Grant, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Syracuse Sail & Power Squadron - requires pre-registration by calling 315-312-3042.
New this year, the show will also offer a special session of the course for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth age 10 to 21, that will be taught in American Sign Language by interpreters from AURORA of CNY. Call 315- 422-7263 to register.
"We are one of the first shows in the Northeast to do this, and maybe one of the first in the country," Drew Wickham said.
The boat show will be open from 1 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission is $9 for adults. Children 13 and younger are free. There is no extra charge for parking.
For more information, visit the show's Website: www.cnyboatshow.com
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