October 7, 2025

As you read this October 7^th edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, I am sitting in the massive ballroom at the JW Mariott in Tampa, Florida for the 2025 IBEX Show, Innovation Awards Breakfast. I look forward to this show more than any other in the annual calendar of marine events and shows. That is because of all the “discoveries” we hope to make while walking the aisles and cruising the docks.

In past years, I was honoured to have been given the privilege of being on the Innovation Award Judging Team with a group of other Boating Writers International members. The judging process is a major undertaking with a lot to coordinate, but Rachel Harmon at the NMMA deserves recognition. She has been the organizer over many years and the judging process is a smooth as it could have been given circumstances. So, what are the circumstances?

The circumstances are that Rachel had to first gather complete binders of information on each Innovation Award submission. Those were then provided to every judge at the start of the judging. A head judge gathers all the judges (usually half a dozen or more) into a team who then walk (or run!) to meet the exhibitors to discuss and evaluate their entries. Scheduling each meeting is a challenge because this happens during show set-up. Arrival times are tough to pin down. Exhibitors get delayed. Shipping crates get misplaced. The judging team has to move as quickly as possible through the entire show floor as the show is being assembled, ducking lift trucks and stepping over huge rolls of carpet.

In next week’s Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest, we will feature the Innovation Award winners from this 2025 IBEX Show.

I expect that some products will be absolute “game-changers” but a good many are evolutionary – improvements on products or systems that we are already familiar with. Either way, these are almost always products that make boating better. Those new products can be very exciting for your customers. Developments like these drive your sales.

Of course, not every new product that is submitted, is judged to be a winner – far from it. Yet products that are not recognized, may be just what your customers would welcome.

The point is that it is well worthwhile making the trip to IBEX to see what is on display. For me, there is a real excitement of discovery, searching through the now three floors and many docks of products on display. If you are here in Tampa in person, and recognize me, I hope you will say hello. It’s always a pleasure to meet our readers in person. I’d love to hear what new products catch your eye this year!

Andy Adams – Editor