Sick of being landlocked? A yacht exhibition last week showed people how a potentially stomach-churning experience out at sea can be more reminiscent of a luxurious night at the Four Seasons. From DVD players to plasma screen TVs, polished dinner tables to comfortable living rooms, Egyptians can now buy their own yachts. The Egypt International Boat Show featured sprawling displays of boats made for both fun and those who like to bask in luxury. Apart from luxury, the need for sportier, smaller boats has taken over a young Egyptian market and so many of the boats on display catered to that end. Wakeboarding has been gaining popularity among Egypt's youth who feed their need for speed during summers spent in El-Gouna and Marina. Similar to water skiing, the sport involves an athlete skiing on one board while being pulled by a speedboat. As more people become familiar with wakeboarding, the demand for more speedboats emerges in the boating market. Ahmed Ouda, a loyal wakeboarder, is still in high school but already has a job with a multinational US firm that produces one of the most well-known boats for the sport, the Malibu Wakesetter. Ouda spends his summers in his Malibu Wakesetter. "I used to wake up at 6 am and go home at 12 am, said Ouda. Wake boats that are imported from the US are all custom-made, so most buyers can choose the features they want. The Malibu Wakesetter is a small boat that was built mostly for speed, but there is a little room for comfort. There's enough room for passengers to sit in the front and back of the boat, and it can accommodate a room full of people, said Ouda. On the side sits an ice box where passengers can keep their drinks cool with a machine that drains the melted ice water. It also has a built-in entertainment system with a 2 GB hard drive. On the dashboard, along with a computer, there are built-in television and DVD players. If you want to rock the night away on the wake boat, you can build in up to 20 speakers. Buying one of these boats is no cheap operation. Said El-Mahdy, the sales manager at a company that imports US-made boats, said the small boat cost "20,000. He chuckled when asked if that was in dollars or Egyptian pounds. "Dollars. $20,000, he asserted. El-Mahdy said that one of the challenges in the industry is building boats that work and look stylish. "The concept of the industry is that boats should be functional with style, said El-Mahdy. "Companies are competing a lot to build in more storage space. Yachts were a major part of the exhibition last week. Though they were big, luxurious, and made for comfort, some of the visitors felt that rooms were a little too tight for comfort. The bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, and bedroom are crammed into a very small space below deck, but there's a lot to be said about having these luxuries available at sea. The 330 Sun Dancer was one of the largest yachts on display at the exhibition. Produced in the US and imported by Nautix Egypt, the yacht has a couple of gadgets that will definitely come in handy at sea. Michael Basta, a Nautix Egypt sales manager, showed off the extensive dining room area, which has a plasma screen TV, a large bed and a small kitchen with an oven and a microwave. Up on deck, Basta said that the 330 Sun Dancer had one gadget that not many other yachts have. "A vessel view has everything that makes the engine work properly. Vessel views are important for providing computer generated models of the state of the engine and will immediately give the captain of the yacht a signal as soon as there is a mishap. Want to enjoy the fresh sea breeze while having lunch? There's room for a barbecue and a table on deck. The 330 Sun Dancer also has a small ice box to store drinks. Most exhibitors looked approvingly at the luxurious boats, but some felt that luxury is starting to replace the real experience of the sea.
