47th Annual Atlanta Boat Show

The 47th annual Atlanta Boat Show held at the Georgia World Congress Center is a NMMA (National Marine Manufacturers Association) supported regional boat show. This year there are several dealer and manufacturers missing from the display floor. JOA Marine and Monterey Boats is not one of them.

Set up for this display space started last week and JOA has done an amazing job. Monterey Boats sent their corporate display and signage making for a great looking display. The team from Monterey to assist with the setup (John and Dave) did a great job and certainly went the extra mile. The long drive from Williston, Fl didn't slow the guys down, we worked until about 9:00pm on Monday! Thanks again!


Today (Wednesday/opening day) is typically a very slow day on the boat show scene. This year, it seems that everyone was expecting the worst and to our surprise the retail traffic was quite good. From the on set of my arrival I was able to stay busy discussing Monterey Boats and JOA Marine from the time I walked in the door to about thirty minuets before the show closed. There are several boat enthusiast and potential new boat owners in attendance.

On Day two the crowd seemingly was a bit lighter but the quality of the crowd was excellent. Customer are asking intelligent questions, I am enthused about the opening results this year. The weekend officially starts Friday and I feel confident that there will be larger crowds and Monterey along with JOA Marine will have a great show. Fridays show was a hit, the turn out was excellent and everyone that came through the Monterey display got an opportunity to view the Montery Flagship 400 Sport Yacht. The 400 is an incredible machine and we stand head and shoulder against anyone else in its class!

Saturdays crowd was INSANE, there were record numbers in attendance. The consumers on the Cruiser/Sport Yacht docks were all very patient with the long lines and actual wait times to get a glimpse of Monterey's amazing line up this year! With the three new sport curisers introduced this year the 260, 280 and 320 Monterey has allot to offer and the buzz is out. There were several customers that decided to take advantage of all the incentives that Montery, Volvo, JOA Marine and the Atlanta Boat Show had to offer. Congratulations to those consumers and JOA for an outstanding job.

This years show adds some interesting things to visitors to the World Congress Center this year including the Mrs. Geico team and race boat on display. Their display came rolling in on a color matched and logoed semi that is quite impressive. Another unusual display this year is what is called the Stinger, Hornet. It looks akin to the old Robert Q Riley Tri-Magnum with some modifications. The builder appears to have done a nice job but I guess the Detroit auto show was too much of a stretch for this manufacturer...

Here are a few other interesting pictures of Atlanta and the boat show....

The Monterey Cruiser display

The World Famous Darren Matthews

The Monterey Sport Boat display

The Atlanta Skyline at night

Another Atlanta skyline at night

And during the day

The life of a boat Rep during show season... Glamorous huh?






Kirk Lewellen
Regional Sales Manager Monterey Boats
1918 Cliffview Ct.
Murfreesboro, TN 37128
Cell - 615.207.1108
Fax - 615-896-6635
http://www.montereyboats.com/
http://www.kirklewellen.com/