Boat Show Time

It’s Southampton Boat Show time, now in its 49th year and it shows my age if I reveal that I wouldn’t miss it for the world . . . because I cannot recall not attending any of them.
Mind you the Show today is far removed from that very first one back in 1969 when one of the founding partners of the Show,  Norman Kemish recalled in his history of the first 20 years, that there were 50-odd exhibitors.
At this year’s show there are some 500 exhibitors showcasing everything you could possibly need to enjoy life on the water with hundreds of boats of all shapes and sizes there to tempt visitors, and more than 330 of them on the purpose-built marina at the city’s Mayflower Park.
It is also the place to see the very latest designs, with 156 boats and products unveiled from world debuts from the likes of Princess Yachts, Southerly Yachts, Cockwells, Sunseeker International, RS Sailing and Ribeye.
Back on that first occasion I recall Norman was well chuffed  when Yachts and Yachting magazine remarked that the Southampton Show stood every chance of becoming a very popular annual event.
And rightly so. This year’s ten-day Show, open until Sunday, September 24,  is likely to attract well over 100,000 visitors and is Europe’s biggest outdoor on-the-water boat show.