Southampton Boat Show 2026: the stage line-up

The Southampton International Boat Show is back on the waterfront next month, and the stage line-up is the first big thing to be locked in. The show runs for ten days, from Friday 18 to Sunday 27 September, at Mayflower Park Town Quay, right on the banks of the River Test with the Solent shipping lanes out in front of you. It's a massive site, 45,000 square metres of it, and the gates are open from 10am to 6pm every day, with the Shipyard staying open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays for anyone who wants to linger.

The Boating Stage is where the big names land. Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, is top of the bill, and he's joined by a long list of sailors and adventurers: Tom Cunliffe brings 'The View from the Backstay' on 25 and 26 September, Geoff Holt MBE presents 'Accessible Oceans', and Monty Halls, the marine biologist, explorer and broadcaster, appears on 21 September. Jazz Turner is on 24 September and Vendée Globe skipper Pip Hare on 26 September, while Mike Golding OBE joins a panel with the Royal Yachting Association and the RYA Yachtmaster of the Year Awards. The RNLI engineering team will be talking through rescue technology, and Dr Daniel Moore covers shark populations.

Powerboat racing gets its own moment, too. Joe Sturdy and Ben King talk Team Brady and the electric E1 series, six-time world champion Miles Jennings marks the 50th anniversary of the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes Marathon Race, and British World Powerboat champion Shelley Jory-Leigh sits down for a Q&A with Andy and Miriam Goddard of Andark Diving & Watersports, who are celebrating 50 years of the business.

The Wooden Boat Stage has been expanded this year and is run by the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis, the Wooden Boatbuilders' Trade Association and Women in Boat Building. It's as much about doing as talking: there's steam-bending with Woodbridge Boatyard, carving with the Boat Building Academy, oar-making with master boatbuilder Colin Henwood and ropework with Sue Pennison, plus deck laying, sailmaking, figurehead sculpture, marquetry, epoxy application, hand-tool techniques and half-model yacht making. Spirit Yachts, with Adrian Gooderman, Brenden George and Tom Smith, discusses wooden yacht building and the Spirit P50, while boatbuilder Stephen Dennett and Bob Sykes of Sykes Timber talk responsible timber sourcing. Barb Trailer, director of the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, speaks on its 50th anniversary in 2027, Simon Crawford of Marineware covers professional maintenance and Hannah Cunliffe of National Historic Ships UK talks historic boat ownership.

There's a new Wooden Boat Stage Afloat making its debut out in the harbour, with the J Class tender Gelyce, the 1907 gaff cutter Larry of Hannah Stowe and the Dunkirk veteran Guide of Dunkirk on display. Over in the Shipyard, the Maclean Brothers appear on 24 September for a talk and book signing about their 139-day Pacific row. Across the whole programme there are more than 110 talks, debates, demonstrations and workshops, and the show's charity of the year is the RNLI.