As early as November, George Harris starts getting the phone calls. What seminars are being offered this year? callers ask. Who will be speaking?

“It’s really amazing,” said Harris, president of the Northwest Marine Trade Association. “We just can’t ever seem to get the seminar schedule up on the website soon enough.”

The broad offering of seminars at the Seattle Boat Show has become a hallmark of the annual event, and one organizers say is unmatched by any other boat show around North America. This year’s show includes about 220 free 45-minute seminars and more than 20 three-hour seminars offered through Boat Show University. All seminars will be held at Qwest Field Event Center during the boat show, which starts tomorrow and runs through Feb. 6.

The free seminars cover boating and fishing topics ranging from buying a boat to ocean salmon fishing, from marine weather to downrigging tricks, along with dozens of sessions on boating experiences ranging from the Baja Ha-Ha to a voyage across the Northwest Passage. Presenters are a mix of familiar speakers and newbies. (Full disclosure: the Three Sheets crew will be giving a seminar on how to blog about boating  at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4.)

At Boat Show University, now in its fifth year, attendees can hone their skills in subjects including rigging, sail trim, diesel engine maintenance and Alaska cruising with well-known experts such as Nigel Calder and Brion Toss. The three-hour courses are $39 each, or $149 for four courses and a five-day show pass. A $195 ticket includes an all-day advanced weather class taught by Lee Chesneau on Feb. 4 and a five-day show pass.

The university was the brainchild of longtime cruiser and author Mark Bunzel, who runs Anacortes-based Fine Edge, a publishing company. Bunzel said the longer classes were created for topics that needed more time than the 45 minutes allotted for the free seminars. There were about six sessions offered the first year, he said, and additional classes in cruising and fishing were gradually added.

Quality has been a priority for Boat Show University from the start, said Bunzel, who works with two full-time teachers to set the course schedule, choose instructors and oversee the curriculum each year.

“We really work with the instructors to make sure there’s good content,” he said. “We make sure they’re prepared. We’re pretty intent on the quality.”

The effort seems to have paid off. Bunzel said people attend Boat Show University year after year, with some attendees coming from as far away as California, Alberta and the east coast.

“We’ve had some people say they come to the Seattle Boat Show just for the seminars, both the free ones and Boat Show University,” he said. “We get some really good feedback. It’s been a very valued part of the show.”

Harris sees the popularity of the seminars as an indication of how ingrained boating is in Northwest culture. He mentions a man from Idaho who spends his annual vacation at the show, attending every day and going to as many seminars as he can.

“Our seminars really work here,” he said. “I take that as boaters being really passionate about the year-round boating and the variety of boating here.”

Harris considered eliminating one of the four seminar stages at this year’s show to cut costs, but decided the seminars were too popular to scale back. Though this year’s boat show is nine days instead of the usual 10, it will offer the same number of seminars as last year’s, Harris said.

Bunzel said to his knowledge, the Seattle Boat Show’s educational offerings are unmatched at any other boat show. The show being run by an association rather than a promoter or an event company, he said, makes all the difference.

“We take a broader view of boating, rather than just getting people in the door and exhibitors there,” Bunzel said. “We’re really trying to promote boating in the Northwest. By providing education and seminars, that’s the best way to get people to feel comfortable on the water and get them more enthused about it.”

For a complete seminar schedule and additional information, go to the Seattle Boat Show website.