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January 12 2006, Thursday,
10am-9pm (ends January 15 2006, Sunday, 10am-6pm)
The day we visited the London Boat Show, at the end of last week, we
began by boarding and looking around the naval ship HMS Grafton. It is
moored, for the length of the exhibition, at the Hydropool Marina, which
is alongside the Excel Centre. Once on board we heard an interesting and
enthusiastic talk – delivered by Steve Cockerill, Director of Rooster
Sailing Limited – all about dinghy sailing, with specific reference to
the Oppi Sailing Dinghy (priced at £720). After this it was off to one
of the Centre’s Waterfront Rooms, to see David Suchet (alias, “Poirot”),
who is Chairman of the River Thames Alliance, unveiling, according to a
press release, ‘the first tranche of waterway plans that define the
future of the Environment Agency’s rivers.’ The release, itself,
continues, ‘Waterway Plans for the rivers Thames, Medway and Great Ouse
are the first three of eight plans being launched in 2006. Julia
Simpson, head of Recreation and Navigation, said: “2006 is the year we
launch all eight of our waterway plans which provide blueprints for the
future of our rivers. Thanks to extra government funding over the next
three years we are investing more money in our rivers than ever before –
work is already underway to modernise our waterways by improving the
maintenance of our river infrastructure and providing better
facilities.” That afternoon we also attended the VELUX 5 OCEANS
Sponsorship announcement, where Sir Robin Knox-Johnston announced the
official timekeeping sponsor. Present also was Jorgen Amundsen – who we
managed to talk to. He is a great, great nephew of the famous Norwegian
explorer, Roald Amundsen. According to another press release we were
given, Amundsen Oslo is, ‘appointed as the official race timekeeper for
the VELUX 5 OCEANS, launching a brand new watch design for race
skippers.’ The release goes on to say, ‘Clipper Ventures, the AIM-listed
event management company founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, today
[January 6 2006] announced that Amundsen Oslo has joined forces with the
VELUX 5 OCEANS Race as the official timekeeper. The VELUX 5 OCEANS is
the oldest, most established and continuously run single-handed round
the world yacht race.’ Ellen MacArthur, you may remember, raced it in
2005. It took her 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds! The race
runs from Bilbao, Spain, to Freemantle, Australia, then onto Florida,
USA, and finally back to Bilbao, Spain. So, quite a trek!
And you will find it is quite a trek to get around the entire London
Boat Show. It is massive, so today – with 11 hours, including the late
night opening – it is probably the best day to sail past the 700+
exhibitors. Whilst we are not sure if any of the aforementioned people
will be present, over the last four days of the show, there will be
plenty of other people to meet. Enjoy the experience, and be careful! Do
not fall off any the 1000 boats, ships or yachts, which you might be
tempted to board.
A: £14 / £12.60 in advance
C: £7 / £6.30 in advance (children) £13 / £11.70 in advance (OAPs)
F: 01784 439 678 (British Marine Federation)
L: London Boat Show, ExCeL London, 1 Western Gateway, Royal Victoria
Dock, London, E16
M: National Boat Shows, British Marine Federation, Marine House, Thorpe
Lea Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 8BF
N: 01784 473 377 (British Marine Federation)
T: Custom House (Docklands Light Railway)
W:
http://www.amundsenoslo.com/
http://www.clipper-ventures.com/
http://www.londonboatshow.com/
http://www.oppi.nl/
http://www.roostersailing.com/
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/748.html (about HMS
Grafton)
http://www.velux.com/
http://www.velux5oceans.com/
X:
http://www.howtoenjoy.co.uk/interests/boats.htm
http://www.howtoenjoy.info/interests/shows.htm
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