London Boat show :(

I was at the London boat show at Excel yesterday and although a good event the inboard sports boat showings were much less than good The only showing was 3 boats from "Midlands Nautique" (my local dealer), MC had pulled out of the event a few months ago.
There was a very good showing of I/O's from Regal and Glastron along with lots of Ribs from Cobra and others. A very nice looking Riva Iseo which I think maybe I fell in love with a little bit. And then there was a huge selection of outboards, Yacht's and big cruisers from Sunseeker, Fairline, Jeanneau and Princess, all very impressive but with the price tags to match (the boats of dreams).

Last years event was pretty much the same thing although MC were there with the 300 which helped to draw a few more people.

I know things are tough for boat builders and dealers alike but where are some of the other Manufacturers? (Axis, Malibu, MB, Sanger, Tige...)

I am beginning to think that perhaps if I want to see an event were all the main inboard suppliers attend I might need to arrange a trip to the US to coincide with one of your boat shows. Do the US boat shows get a good showing from everyone or has it been hit and miss over the last few years?

Bottom line is that the UK market is massive for Yachts and cruisers but probably isn't a big inboard market but it would be nice to see something. I might give the Southampton boat show a try in September.

The Wakeboarding demonstrations on the System 2.0 were good to watch and we did pickup a new impact vest for Gemma oh and not forgetting the Riva so it was worth a visit, but it just left me a little disappointed

uk1979 I have 2 free tickets valid from 6th-15th going if you are interested in going. let me know if you are interested and I can pop them in the post to you first class so they should get to you in time.