The Barcelona Boat Show will have an innovation space exhibiting new technologies applied to navigation

One of the new features of the 45th International Boat Show of Barcelona, which will be held from the 4th to the 12th of November 2006, is the incorporation of an Innovation Space in Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Vía exhibition centre. With the collaboration of Innovamar and Madrid Diseño de Yates (MDY), it will house around 20 companies which will present projects related to design and new technologies applied to sports and recreational navigation.

The aim of this new space of around 1,000 m2 is to encourage initiatives by design, engineering and shipbuilding companies in the field of nautical innovation and to provide a platform to showcase the most advanced techniques and research projects which are being developed.

The Boat Show’s Innovation Space will be located in Pavilion 2 of the trade fair centre in a differentiated area with its own identity. It will provide the setting for product presentations and professional encounters which will form part of the activities programme. The area will be equipped with audiovisual media for exhibitors planning to make innovation-related presentations.

The exhibitors’ innovation area will mainly target young designers wishing to show their proposals at the Barcelona Boat Show. Groups sharing a stand will be well received. The idea is to provide a space for young values where information and know-how exchange is promoted. The organisers are also planning on the presence of design schools which teach courses and training programmes related to this speciality.  

Innovation and Yacht Design Awards

In direct relation to design, the Barcelona Boat Show, with the collaboration of Innovamar and MDY, are holding the 2nd SNB-MDY Awards for Technology Innovation and Yacht Design. The contest will be open until July for the presentation of projects, prototypes and/or mass production and conceptual projects which represent a technological advance.

The entries must be applicable in sports and recreational boats, both power and sail, and contribute to an improvement in conceptual or aesthetic design, safety, ergonomics, product quality, competitiveness, production system, performance expectations and/or sustained growth with the use of renewable energies, recyclable materials, care of the marine environment, etc. 

The Awards are international and cover two categories: marketed projects and conceptual projects.  A technical committee will analyse and evaluate the entries and select three finalists in each category. The panel of judges will be made up of representatives of the International Boat Show of Barcelona, the technical committee of Madrid Diseño de Yates and Innovamar. The prize consists of 6,000 euros and the deadline for the presentation of projects is the 15th of July 2006.

The winners and their projects will be announced during the 45th Boat Show and in the communications media. The finalist projects in each category will be exhibited at a stand in the Innovation Space.

This year the International Boat Show of Barcelona will feature 650 national and foreign exhibitors and, for the first time, will occupy all 5 pavilions of the Gran Vía exhibition centre. Simultaneously, the Port Vell On-Water Show will exhibit 230 large boats in the Espanya and La Fusta docks. The Boat Show is a trade show of Fira de Barcelona, the leading organiser of industrial and professional exhibitions in Spain and one of the most important in Europe in the number of events.  .