After two years of absence from City Dock, a welcome sign of spring is back in Annapolis—the Spring Sailboat Show, an in-water boat show that gets sailors primed for warm-weather boating season.
The show runs April 29- May 1 and features new and used boats including catamarans, monohulls, racing boats, family cruisers, daysailers, and inflatables. You can climb aboard the impressive lineup of sailboats, meet with boating clubs and charter companies, shop for gear and equipment and network with other sailing-minded folks.
As with the Annapolis Boat Shows’ Bay Bridge Boat Show the week before, Chesapeake Bay Media and our sister company the Annapolis School of Seamanship (ASOS) will offer free seminars. Our Bay experts and ASOS’s professional captains bring visitors how-to talks on Docking De-Stressed, Get Your Captain’s License, Weekends on the Water – Cruising to towns in the Upper & Middle Bay, Lessons from Sailors, and How to Anchor Your Boat.
The show also offers beginning sailing instruction, both in the classroom and on the water, from American Sailing Association instructors. And Cruisers University gives bluewater sailors classroom curriculum to prepare them to live aboard a boat and cruise with confidence. Subjects include marine weather forecasting, navigation, diesel engine maintenance, heavy weather sailing, and budgeting.
Once you’ve done your homework, there’s plenty of fun and relaxation both at the LaVictoire VIP Experience and the Breakthru Tasting Tent, with wine and spirits tastings daily.
Tickets to the Sailboat Show are $20, and children 12 and under are free. There will be no on-site box office, so guests are encouraged to buy tickets online ahead of time at AnnapolisBoatShows.com.
-Meg Walburn Viviano
