New mast, ahoy!

TOURISM: Drop by at the India International Boat Show in Kerala for some of the best vessels money can buy.

It's guaranteed. Feel the wind in your hair, the sea swishing frothily beneath your feet, and your body relaxing to the gentle rhythms of a waterborne vessel, just once, and you'll never be the same again. And if you're well and truly hooked to life afloat, do visit the India International Boat Show (IIBS) 2006 in Kochi later this month.

The number of exhibitors has doubled this year, says B Suman, director, tourism, Kerala. "At the boat show this year," he says, "there will be more outdoor and marina displays."

Volvo, Sunseeker, Carver and Ferretti are among the participants. You will also find many makers of boat acessories, fish finder radars and other equipment such as kayaks, canoes, row boats, catamarans, diving gear, watersport equipment, jet skis, water skis... you name it.

And it's the only platform of its kind in India. Internationally, of course, boat shows are extremely popular, some of the big names being the Cannes Boat Show and London Boat Show. But as India re-discovers its maritime self, the Kerala show could have a big future.

Across the world, big business is transacted at boat shows. Anju Dutta, director of Mumbai-based Marine Solutions, pegs this industry's potential at a whopping $1.5 billion, globally. And in 2005-06, Marine Solutions sold boats worth some Rs 2 crore in India.

The good news is that Indians are getting watersport and yacht-happy. While Mumbai has some people who own boats, India is still a while away from weekend scenes common in richer parts of the world "" SUV after SUV with boats in tow headed for the seaside.

You may be surprised, though. The price tags are high, but you have to see the beauties to believe them. A Ferretti 460 yacht could be yours for Rs 6-7 crore (this includes 37.1 per cent customs duty on the Rs 4 crore beauty). And yes, Ferretti is acknowledged as the Ferrari of sailing. Some of the best Ferrettis can cost up to Rs 25 crore, though not a single Ferretti has been sold in India yet.

It may take awhile before Indians scale their way up to the high end of yachting. Dutta explains that a lot of people start with speedboats like Sea Ray. These start at a modest Rs 18-20 lakh apiece, and go up to nearly Rs 1 crore. But at the rate at which interest is growing in boats, it may not be long before we have hush-hush corporate meetings held out at sea "" and scuba reporters.

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DREAD NOT

Kerala Tourism has sent a proposal to the ministry of Tourism at the centre to fund the buying of three 80-feet luxury boats.

"We are trying to pick up a few luxury boats and run them along the coast of Kerala connecting places like Bekkal, Calicut, Kochi and Trivandrum," says the state's director of tourism, B Suman.

These might also be extended to Sri Lanka later. The plan is to buy the boat and maybe turn it over to a private sector operator.