As the Boat Show draws to a conclusion.....

[davel]

did anyone see anything that inspired/surprised/motivated/shocked/puzzled/frustrated/infuriated them?

I was pleasantly surprised by the Sabre yachts and I thought the interior of the Hanse 461 was fantastic - designed by an interior designer apparently so looked fabulous, but not sure how it would work at sea.

I've always been a fan of Island Packets as they're built really well and always have some feature that makes you wonder why others don't do the same (like their fold-away saloon table). This time, however, the fridge arrangement in the galley of their 420 was a big disappointment. Had a narrow opening and was incredibly deep. No idea how you're supposed to get access to the back/bottom of the thing.

Despite spending 9 hours at the show with no real queues to contend with, I still only managed to cover about one third of the show.

Must say that I really enjoyed my own day out.

 

[T_S]

Was up there on Saturday, I must say I could not fault it at all.....This year there was so much there I did not see as much as I would have liked to.

Anyway I purchased a Raymarine autohelm for a good price from Compass with a bag thrown in too, so at least I managed to bend some plastic! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Regards ......Dave

 

[AlexL]

I too was pleasently suprised with Sabre.
Highlights for me:
My new Hanse 371 was being used as the show boat, and it was excellent to finally see it, looking all polished and shiny /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Getting some odds and ends from Jimmy Green marine at a VERY good price, with lots of extra discounts appearing as the guy was serving us!
Discovering the 'kiwiprop' and ordering one for my new boat -a 3 blade feathering prop for only a bit more than a 2 blade folder.
The most impressive 'off the wall' thing I saw was the irish company selling '3d' pictures of admiralty charts made by painstakingly cutting the charts out around all the depth contors and then putting back together with some card inbetween to generate a sort of 3d relief map, they were very expensive but looked absolutely fantastic

 

[masterofnone]

I managed to remain within budget after doing some homework,etc, The pub outside the main entrance was good value with live jazz. A good day, looking forward to easter. rich