H
ealth and safety is ever improving,
including at boat shows where
(quite rightly), rigorous processes
and checklists are in place before
exhibitors are allowed to take boats
displayed on the pontoons out
for sea trials. In reality, the value of these trials
is a little questionable in any case. One very large
manufacturer that I was involved with used to run
regular sea trials in the last hour or so of business
for potential clients, claiming to be just a boat ride
away from signing on the dotted. They don’t do it
anymore, quietly admitting that hardly any of the
many trials ever actually resulted in a sale. Far better
(for both buyer and seller) to arrange a private trial
after the event, something any serious buyer would
prefer in any case.
But in the past, with far less regulation in place,
the policy was a little more relaxed. If you could get
your boat out (not the case for many show berths)
then you were free to do what you wanted.
In the 1970s, I was working for a boat dealer that
imported Skagerak boats from Norway. We had
two identical 21ft sportscuddies on display at the
Southampton Boat Show, one on a stand ashore in
the body of the show and one afloat in the marina.
On one memorable occasion, since it was a lovely
evening, a couple of us sales guys decided it would
be great to use the one afloat for a trip to Cowes for
a drink and a meal. What could possibly go wrong?
After a long evening, a lovely meal and a few
drinks, we found out. When we tried to start
the boat, the alternator belt snapped. So there
we were, in Cowes, in the dark, with a broken
boat that absolutely had to be back at Southampton
before the show opened, and ideally before senior
management noticed we’d taken it. And of course,
all the local engineers were shut until the following
morning. It’s situations like this that focus the mind,
and what we were focusing hardest on was where
we could get another belt in the middle of the
night. Then it hit us – we had an identical boat
with an identical engine parked in the boat show!
We grabbed a ferry back to the mainland.
By this time it was close to midnight and things
were getting desperate. The show had closed hours
ago and there was no way we could get back into the
show at that time of night using official means,
but problems are merely the pregnant mothers
of solutions, so we found a way in using rather
less official means!
With the belt ‘liberated’ from the boat on our
stand, the race was on to escape the show without
getting caught by security – despite being
exhibitors, it would have taken too long to explain
why we were sneaking out of the show at midnight
concealing a boat part and time was fast running
out if we were going to catch the last ferry back to
Cowes. Once there, there was just the simple task
of refitting the belt. In the dark. Without any tools...
It was beginning to get light before we had a fully
operational engine again and were able to motorquietly out of Cowes and head back across the
Solent and up Southampton Water. We slipped
the boat surreptitiously back into the marina,
evading security one last time, and made our
break for freedom and the sanctity of our hotel
for a shower and breakfast before reentering the
show for another full day of entertaining the public.
We stuck to Southampton pubs after that, but
if you visited the show in the ’70s and encountered
some extremely sleepy exhibitors or wondered
why a boat was being displayed without a drive
belt – well, now you know.So there we were, in Cowes, in the dark, with a broken boat that
absolutely had to be back at Southampton before the show openedVAUGHAN BROWNE: Taking a boat show boat to Cowes for the evening
seemed like a great idea, right up until the moment it broke downWe snuck a boat out
of the boat show
I’LL NEVER FORGET THE DAY...
EMAIL US YOUR STORY. WE’LL PAY £100
FOR ANY WE USE! [email protected]150COLUMNSA nighttime escapade to Cowes
in one of the show’s display boats
almost ended in disaster when the
alternator belt left them stranded