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Southampton Boat Show

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Boating and Sailing News 13 Sep

Southampton UK - I guess all boating aficionados have something of a chemical imbalance in the brain, something like a compulsive disorder. Like the chemical imbalance in the brain of someone in love that scientists apparently have labeled ‘pathological romance’. It’s all down to a lack of the neurotransmitter serotonin, apparently. This perhaps explains why, despite the gloomy economic forecasts, so many had turned out for the first day of the Southampton Boat Show, which opened Friday.

Held every September since 1969, the Southampton Boat Show is the UK's largest boat show. Over 135,000 boating addicts are expected to attend this 40th anniversary year of the show, which runs until September 21st.

Southampton boat show

With over 600 exhibitors and 700 boats on display, there is no shortage of things to see at this year's show. Whether it's power boats, sailing yachts or smaller dinghies; guests attracted to the PSP Southampton Boat Show have plenty to explore. It is a great place to be to check out all the latest boating gear, covet fancy new yachts, or to discover a new hobby in sailing, boating or other water-sports.

THE Show got off to a gold medal winning start Friday, as the winning team GB Olympic sailing heroes opened the event. Gold medal winners Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy and Pippa Wilson were joined by the rest of the triumphant sailing team, including Andrew Simpson, Sarah Ayton, Paul Goodison and Sarah Webb. The line also included Dame Ellen MacArthur, eight-times World Powerboat Champion Steve Curtis MBE, and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston representing the 1960s - a decade that saw him undertake his first solo navigation of the world.

Southampton Boat Show

Sir Robin’s yacht Suhaili was there at the Southampton Boat Show, flanking the main stage. It was on her that he circumnavigated the globe from Falmouth to Falmouth, without stopping, during the Golden Globe Race of 1968/9. When Knox-Johnston returned to Falmouth in 1969, after 313 days at sea, he became the first man to sail non-stop and solo around the world.

Southampton Boat Show Michael Perham Among the younger generation represented at the show is Michael Perham, a 16-year-old student who is hoping to become the youngest person to sail around the world singlehanded. Michael, from Potters Bar in London, will have the yacht he will circumnavigate in named and blessed in a ceremony at the show.

Katie Miller joined Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Pete Goss and Mike Golding on the main stage to announce the official launch of the Ostar Cross Atlantic Race. Katie, the 2006 Raymarine YJA Young Sailor of the Year, is displaying Hot Socks, her Figaro II race boat, for the duration of the show. Katie's appearance at the show follows their recent triumph in the bluQube 1,000 mile race, which was her first major solo sailing event. So far Katie Miller is the youngest, and the only female contender, for the next Ostar Cross Atlantic Race.

Dee Caffari was also at the Southampton Boat Show on Friday. Dee was with The Green Blue and the Environment Agency to present the first ever ‘Award for Environmental Improvement’. Our YachtPal Dee Caffari, the Vendee Globe round the world race skipper, launched the recycling program, which hopes to increase and improve the quantity of material that is recycled by sailing and yacht clubs and marinas.

Southampton Boat SHow Dee Caffari

Southampton Boat Show Tall SHips The Dublin based tall ship Jeanie Johnston is moored alongside the Solent Park, looking like a duchess in a supermarket surrounded by the aluminium masts and the shiny plastic hi-tech hulls. Explorers can climb aboard the tall ship and venture both above and below deck, learning more about the voyages the original Jeanie Johnston would have taken between Ireland and the US during the potato famine.

Visitors to the boat show can also learn more about The Raymarine Lively Lady project. The 40 year old Lively Lady was originally sailed around the world in 1968-9 by Sir Alec Rose. She is just back from a two year round-the-world trip, that has not only covered over 28,000 nautical miles, but in the process has helped young adults turn their lives around.

Among the other featured boats at the show is Spirit of Mystery, the fascinating vessel that Pete Goss has painstakingly replicated from the historical Mystery and will attempt to sail to Australia without the aid of modern electrical or navigational systems. Near by is Bloodhound which had belonged originally to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

Next week the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race boat Hull & Humber will be on display. Visitors will have the chance to get onboard, and look round the 68-foot ocean racing yacht, one that has completed two circumnavigations in the race. Visitors can also find out about the wide range of Clipper Training courses on offer, and enter a competition to win a week-long Big Boat Sailing course with Clipper Training. Crews in the Clipper 07-08 Race represented 27 different nationalities – the most internationally and culturally diverse crew ever.

Southampton boat show Katie Miller For those who fancy getting out on the water, there is the Try-a-Boat feature. This is where beginners or sailing veterans can choose from a varied selection of the latest inflatables, powerboats and yachts to try, and it's all free! The Try-a-Boat feature should get very busy as the show gets more crowded, so I would suggest booking your place early, if you want to try a boat.

For anyone who wants to get even closer to the water there is the H2O Zone. This is an interactive area where people of all ages can experience popular on-water sports first hand. Visitors can test their skills at canoeing, kayaking, dinghy sailing, windsurfing and paddle boarding (the latest water sport craze), with the guidance of industry professionals from the British Canoe Union and the Royal Yachting Association. The Zone runs the activities from 10.30am onwards every day, but again you're advised to turn up early to book a space.

Callista, another of the Southampton Boat Show's feature boat attractions, offers the chance to uncover the mystery of what lies beneath the ocean surface. The state-of-the art scientific research vessel, on loan from the National Oceanography Centre, features the latest scientific equipment in wet and dry laboratories.

Southampton Boat Show UK

Down at the Hydropool Marina, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) has teamed up with the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution), to provide Search & Rescue demonstrations throughout the course of the boat show. The demonstrations give an overview of how these heroes of the sea and sky go about saving lives, and approaching their daring rescues.

Southampton Boat Show Southampton The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is celebrating its attendance at the 40th Southampton Boat Show with its biggest ever presence there. The charity that saves lives at sea is giving show visitors the chance to experience the RNLI's virtual lifeboat training experience on stand B73, a free lifejacket clinic on stand C9, and the opportunity to get on board an RNLI all-weather lifeboat at the marina (berth 61).

The RNLI is also offering four seminars, giving leisure boaters a 'bite-sized' twenty minute look at subjects ranging from lifejackets and taking a boat on a cross-channel passage, to diesel engines, and also a light-hearted look at stylish survival at sea - the latest fashion and clothing technologies for men and women on the water.

Just to show that the boat show organisers are not immune from sexual discrimination, there is a Ladies Day. The ‘Ladies Day Experience’ is designed to offer ladies the opportunity to indulge themselves in a little retail therapy, eat some great food in the Main Restaurant with Cunard, drink a little champagne in the Sunseeker Champagne Bar, and see a special ladies day version of a retro fashion show (what ever that is) on the Main Stage. But be warned, it doesn’t come cheap.

Southampton Boat Show I did notice however that quite a few of the exhibitors were offering deals and discounts, even on the opening day of the show. One boat was on special offer at £1,500,000, and another multi million pound boat was being offered with a free £800 worth of accessories.

I have to admit that this serotonin deficient boat owner quite enjoyed his day at the boat show, but somehow the commercial aspect of the show somehow seemed at odds with W.H. Auden’s idea that “The sea then, is the symbol of primitive potential power as contrasted with the desert of actualised triviality, of living barbarism verses lifeless decadence.”

- Mike Taylor exclusively for YachtPals.com