Boat Show Hot Takes

January 22, 2026

I was surprised!  Over the years I have been to a great number of boat shows and often, you feel like you’ve already been there.  But not yesterday at the Toronto show – it was energetic and chipper, even on a Tuesday morning. There were interesting new boats, new colours, lots of new features. It was North Pole cold weather outside so I was impressed with the traffic in the show for a weekday.

The first thing I did was hit the Lake and, yes, people were actually playing pickleball on the floating court. What a hoot.  The Lake was busy – boat rides, model boats and general fun. Wandering the show, I saw that Scandinavia has moved in via Axopar and several similar boats like Quarken that bring a really fresh approach to style. Ditto other Euro builders.

In Canada, used boats outsell new boats two-to-one so it makes sense that a significant number of the show guests are there to take in everything and review what the boat landscape looks like before they head out into the market.  That may frustrate boat salesman but fulfills a critical role in educating boaters. Veteran boat owners also love to review trade-up options and see what’s on the menu for accessories and electronics. 

If there was a deficiency, it was the underwhelming sail section. It’s a tough assignment selling a new sailboat these days – they have soared over past pricing and sticker shock sends prospective owners to the brokerage pages.

After a quick tour of the show, I picked a personal sleeper winner – this retro Starcraft with tiny vintage-style trailer wheels and matching 25 Merc. How cute is that!!

I am heading back tomorrow to take in more.

John Morris,
Online Editor
John@opmediagroup.ca

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