Dinghy Show

The show itself appeared to be well attended. It opened at 10:00 each day and ended at 18:00 on Saturday and 17:00 on Sunday.

The entrance hall was graced by a 'drop dead gorgeous' Thames Rater. I dread to think what her restoration, let alone her sails cost.

All the usual clubs and classes were represented and included some new developments of existing dinghies. The chandlers and clothing firms were as crowded as ever with everybody looking for a bargain.

The stage area in the West Hall was very busy. There were lectures on tactics. Virtual dinghy racing on the giant screen was great fun to watch with representatives from all the big clubs competing against each other. There were also a number of fashion shows covering both sailing and après sailing gear.

The best show was last up on Sunday afternoon. The British Olympic Sailing Manager gave a view of the Athens Olympics, supported by quite a number of the team. In addition to video they had dozens of photographs taken by the competitors themselves, it was really interesting and overran its time slot … not that anyone minded.

The SigneT stand got its fair share of visitors. There seems to be a revival of interest in self build dinghies this year. The SCOA currently has three new Signets' in build and one major restoration going on. I recon I could have sold three second hand dinghies if they'd been available and I even had an offer for the show dinghy from two blokes on the Moth stand. I don't think her owner, Lizzie Overs, would have been very amused if I'd taken them up on it.

Over the weekend I managed to pick up a Musto buoyancy aid and a new cover for Over Easy, always a deal to be had if you look far enough!

At closing time on Sunday we were the first boat out of Ally Pally with the whole stand display piled on top of her. Less than an hour later, having dispatched ST690 back to her base at Little Paxton, yours truly was back off round the North Circular for the sixth time in three days. I wish someone would drop a bomb on Henley's Corner so they could finally rebuild a more sensible road layout.

Mike (Over Easy) Baker