Wiatr i Woda, Warsaw 2011

The fair took place between 3-6 March in the Expo XXI centre in Warsaw. The space offered by 5 halls gathered several hundred exhibitors of sailing, diving and fishing equipment. It took more than 2 hours to walk through the entire exhibition area.

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Despite the fact that the trade fair has its roots in sailing and sailing-related companies made up the majority of the exhibitors, you could also see the stands of many diving companies, including such brands as Santi, Ursuit, Halcyon, Sony or Ikelite. While visiting the stands, one could learn about the West Pomeranian diving trail and watch the ROV. Diving organisations were represented, among others, by PADI and SDI/TDI. As usual, the offer of offices and centres organising foreign trips was very rich.

At the fair, there was a Polish premiere of a new dry suit valve by Santi. This valve is a combination of an add-on valve and a conduit for heating. Thanks to the application of such a solution, there is no need to make an additional hole in the dry suit to lead the heating cable out. At the Santi stand you could also see the prototype of a new product – a heating suit. It is a combination of a BZ400 wetsuit and a heating waistcoat. From Santi’s representative we learned that it is currently undergoing tests and is expected to go on sale in November.

Right next to the diving town, there was a swimming pool measuring 9x4m and 1.4m deep. During the fair, visitors had the opportunity to dive in the pool, under the supervision of instructors from the Warsaw Dive-Club. Apart from diving in the pool, there were also demonstrations of safety waistcoats and freestyle kayaking. In this bizarre discipline, the task of the participant, using a very short kayak and paddle, was to perform appropriate figures in the water. I don’t think we quite understood the idea behind this sport. We definitely prefer to stay with diving.

Apart from watching the stands, the visitors could take part in numerous lectures. Films about diving in the Baltic Sea, Norway and Bornholm, about the search for Dugong and diving with sharks were presented.

When writing about the fair, one cannot forget about yachts. Watercraft owners must have felt like in paradise. Among the numerous exhibitors one could find manufacturers and suppliers of everything needed on a yacht. The most impressive, of course, were the yachts and motorboats themselves. The fair hosted the premiere of Delphia 46cc yacht, which received the award for the product of the fair Wind and Water 2011. Larger vessels were presented by beautiful hostesses, so visitors could feel like at the Geneva Motor Show.

On top of that, there were also cars on display. Between the yachts and motorboats you could come across a beautiful Aston Martin, but we were most impressed by the Skoda stand and the versions of the new Superb presented there.

To sum up, we think that the Wind and Water Fair is a great event. We congratulate the organisers and exhibitors. We are looking forward to the next edition.

You can see photos from the fair in our gallery: Gallery – Fair Wind and Water Warsaw 2011