I spent a day at Ibex & One thing stood out
Photo courtesy of NMMA and The International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition & Conference.
The International Boatbuilder show (IBEX) came and went. One Innovation won.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, there were hundreds of companies on display and TONS of impressive innovations. I could waste hours of your time, but you probably need to get somewhere. If you want to talk IBEX deep tracks, email me. For those who haven’t heard of IBEX, here’s the brief on North America’s largest B2B trade show before we get into its top innovation.
Part 1: What is IBEX?
The International Boat Builder’s Exhibition & Conference (IBEX) gets together once a year in Tampa at the endlessly large Tampa Bay Convention Center. I’d never been, and I had no idea what I was getting into.
IBEX is flush with boating. From raw fiberglass to the final fittings, you can find it here. Nerd-central (in a good way) for everything related to boat building and ownership in the day-boating range. I was able to solve a client’s gas spring issue, test Seakeeper’s new trim system, sample new Sunbrella fabrics, meet a JL Audio dealer and test new wireless charging products all before lunch.
The show is owned and produced by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), who has quite the grasp on the industry. They produce big trade shows like IBEX and the Discover Boating boat show series in select US cities including Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Miami.
Part 2: Getting there
For us in South Florida, Tampa is one of those places that’s “close but far”. Of all the 4-hour drives, this is the longest. Not the ideal destination for a 3-day trade show. Then, I came across the golden ticket to get me there and back in a day: An 8:30am from Fort Lauderdale, and an 8:30pm flight out, all for $100 on United. I packed a backpack of random necessities and headed to the airport for 12 hours in Tampa.
Once we hit Tampa tarmac, I took an easy 23-minute Uber to the conference center; a multi-story building situated on the Tampa Bay and certainly a favorite stop for the supplier teams on the national show tour. At 10:00am the place was flooded by two check-in lines snaking through the building’s first floor. I spent a long 10 minutes gauging the best way to approach before just hopping in line to get my badge.
Part 3: What Makes IBEX Great?
One of the benefits of the show is its B2B design. The show is exclusive to manufacturers, suppliers and vendors, and therefore, very technical. Booths are just as much educational as they are salesy. No stress, no pressure, just a bunch of pros collecting knowledge. Exhibitors come from all over the world, spanning categories from alternative propulsion to eco-friendly paint to Swedish-designed shock absorbing helm seats.
I originally set out to IBEX to meet a few members of the PilePad supplier network and scout a few potential newcomers. My original to-do list became a never-ending quest to find any new tech I could ogle over. Then, right before I called it a day, I came across a piece of art doubling as a marine innovation.
The IBEX Headliner
Sharrow Marine and ‘Sharrow by VEEEM’
The all-new Sharrow Propeller for inboards. Photo courtesy of Reed Nicol.
The Propeller Revolution is Here
You may think you’re looking at a modern sculpture. In some ways, you’d be right.
Sharrow Marine has been sculpting the revolution of propellers since the Sharrow Propeller’s inception in 2012, and IBEX saw the introduction of the first inboard propeller of its kind. But the fun didn’t stop there. The Michigan-based engineering firm used the show to launch a global licensing partnership with Australian prop-giant Veem, where the two will combine to produce and globally distribute the high-tech propeller.
What’s so special, you say? The Sharrow propeller significantly reduces propeller cavitation. In layman’s terms, the pressure put on the backside of a conventional propeller causes the propeller face to breakdown, further causing inefficiencies in fuel and performance. The Sharrow propeller splits the water’s pressure across a larger and more manipulated surface area, leading to better fuel economy, better performance, and better durability.
Is it too good to be true? No. It’s the real deal. The negatives? Price and serviceability. For the near future, the industry will have a real hard time fixing your broken ‘Sharrow by Veem’ propellers, simply because they are seriously technical. You’ll be able to send them back to Sharrow for a fixing, but that’ll cost you serious time. Partnerships with prop shops like Frank & Jimmy’s in Florida are incoming, but timetables are uncertain.
Learn more about Sharrow Marine at: https://sharrowmarine.com/.
Did you go to IBEX? I’m interested in your experience, and whether you’ve gone in years past. I look forward to taking better advantage of the educational offering in 2024.
