Has anyone attended the Düsseldorf Boat Show — is it worth the trip?

[SkipperDon]

Hi everyone,
I’m considering attending the Düsseldorf Boat Show in 2027 (Boot Düsseldorf) and wanted to hear from people who’ve actually been there.
If you’ve attended in recent years, was it worth the trip?
I’m especially interested in:

• How it compares to major North American shows
  
• Whether the marine electronics and innovation halls are as good as people say
  
• How much hands‑on access you get to new tech
  
• Whether it’s useful for someone working on modernizing their helm and onboard systems
  

It’s a long way to travel, so I’d really appreciate any first-hand impressions — highlights, disappointments, tips, or things you wish you knew before going.
Thanks in advance for any insight.

[st599]

I haven't been to any North American fairs, but Düsseldorf is huge,

You'll probably get 2 large halls of electronics, 2 of other parts, 1 of yachts, 1 of dinghies, 1 of motorboats, 2 of holiday destinations plus more. If you're interested in open projects, which you presumably are, there's quite often an Open Boat Projects stand showing some of the latest Open Source projects.

You can usually get hands on with all

Pros - Düsseldorf is a great city to visit, food is good, Altbier is good

Cons - it's winter in Northern Europe, it can be cold, primary language of some of the on stage bits is German but you can easily get by in English.

[SkipperDon]

Simon

Appreciate the rundown — sounds like Düsseldorf is on a whole different scale compared to anything we get over here. Two halls of electronics alone is enough to make any tech nerd disappear for a full day.

The Open Boat Projects stand is exactly my kind of thing. Open hardware, open source tools, hands‑on demos — that’s the stuff I actually want to see at a boat show, not just another row of brochures.

And honestly, the “cons” you mentioned barely register for me. Winter in Germany? That’s nothing compared to Canada, eh. If I can survive February on Lake Ontario, I can handle Düsseldorf in a jacket. As long as the show floor runs fine in English, I’m good.

The city sounds great, the food sounds great, and I’ll never say no to a proper Altbier. Overall, you’ve made it sound like a solid trip — really appreciate the insight.

[sandervd]

Another one to consider is METSTrade in Amsterdam Skipper Don. This is where the OEMs shop for new technology. Not exactly 'open boat projects' but lots of tech start-ups. The US equivalent is IBEX, but the one time I traveled to Florida for that show, I got evacuated because of a hurricane.

I work at all the major Florida boat shows and the key ones in Europe (Hiswa, Cannes and Monaco). Nothing comparable to Düsseldorf, in particular when it comes to electronics. METS, however, is my favorite when it comes to innovation: there are many more smaller tech brands than in Düsseldorf, and all the time in the world to talk and engage with them.

[SkipperDon]

METS really does seem to be the place where the next wave of marine tech shows up before it hits the OEM catalogs. Since you’ve spent real time there, I’m especially curious from an innovation standpoint — and from the open‑architecture side of things:

• Did you see any smaller tech companies pushing systems that are open‑architecture or developer‑friendly, rather than locked into proprietary ecosystems?
• Were any startups showing AI‑vision or sensor‑fusion tools that could realistically be integrated by owner‑installers instead of requiring a full OEM partnership?
• How much of the innovation at METS felt accessible to the DIY/open‑source community versus being aimed strictly at big‑builder integrations?

I’m asking because a lot of the meaningful progress in this space is happening outside the traditional closed platforms — and METS seems like the one show where those early‑stage ideas actually surface.

[sandervd]

I mean, after all it is a commercial show, so innovative start-ups yes, but open-architecture less so. My expertise was in electric propulsion and it was fantastic to meet all sorts of smaller suppliers, from batteries to motor controllers to HMI, that were keen to develop together, even while we were still small. Most of the conversations were informal and unfiltered, and often in-depth, so I always left with lots of new insights, ideas and a list of people to call after the show to explore further. So a lot of focus on new ideas and concepts but they also find ways, mostly by partnering, eg with yachting ventures, to bring young talent with fresh ideas to the show. Massive event.

edit:
I was thinking about your AI-vision remark; I am currently tinkering with a cheap re:Camera from Seeed and YOLO from Ultralytics (catching local speed devils in my street); isn't the CES a better place to discover more open tech like this?

[SkipperDon]

That’s a great breakdown, and it matches what I’ve heard from others — METS is outstanding for innovation, but “open‑architecture” isn’t really the priority there. It’s an OEM‑driven environment, so the conversations naturally revolve around commercial integration, supply‑chain fit, and how new tech gets adopted by builders.

On your CES point:
CES is definitely the stronger venue for open, developer‑friendly tech — but mostly for general robotics, autonomy, and edge‑AI. The challenge is that very little of it is marine‑specific.

If you’re working with YOLO, edge inference, Jetson‑class hardware, or anything in the Seeed/Ultralytics ecosystem, CES is where those building blocks live. But they’re not tuned for saltwater, vibration, NMEA integration, or the realities of a helm environment.

That’s the gap:

CES has the raw technology.

METS shows how (and if) that technology is actually being adapted for marine use.

For anyone experimenting with AI‑vision on the water — hazard detection, situational awareness, sensor fusion — CES is where you find the components, but METS is where you see which companies are actually trying to marine‑harden those ideas.

Two different worlds, but both useful depending on whether you’re sourcing parts or evaluating marine‑ready solutions.

So
METS 17–19 November 2026 at RAI Amsterdam
CES 2027 takes place Jan. 6-9, 2027, in Las Vegas
Boot2027 Jan. 23-31 2027 in Dusseldorf

So are there any other shows I should attend? and are there any consideration in Asia?

[sandervd]

Embedded World? https://www.embedded-world.de/en

[SkipperDon]

So
METS 17–19 November 2026 at RAI Amsterdam
CES 2027 takes place Jan. 6-9, 2027, in Las Vegas
Boot2027 Jan. 23-31 2027 in Dusseldorf
Embedded World from 16 - 18 March 2027

That's a great start first is anyone attending these show and should we have a meet up?