If you’re interested in innovation on the water, the place this to be week is the London Boat Show – 77 boats will make their debut, there will be a raft of technology launches and there will be some fascinating high-tech show firsts.
At the front of the show, for example, super-sensitive sensors in a Control the Weather feature will detect body movement stopping a curtain of rain falling and allowing visitors to walk through – it’s a rather neat idea.
A 4D Experience, meanwhile, will ‘challenge the senses’ as people walk through a number of nautical locations; from the heat of the tropics to the cold, icy blow of the Arctic, to the beauty of the Northern Lights, the experience is aimed at assailing the senses in what’s being called a ‘stunning’ HD experience.
The show, sponsored by forex specialist CWM FX, will be hosting world firsts across the marine industry, from rowing boats right up to the latest in luxury yachts. Several dedicated boardwalks dotted around the halls will allow visitors to step onto a variety of craft including Viking, Elan, Haines Marine, Jeanneau, Dehler Yachts, Moody Yachts, J Boats, Grand Soleil, Tofinou Yachts, Nautitech and Bavaria.
Of course the London show isn’t only about the boats, there will also be plenty of other companies, many of them familiar to canal and river boat owner; names such as the IWA, Vetus, Beta, Barrus, Nanni, Haven Knox-Johnson, Aquafax, Webasto, Eberspacher, ASAP Supplies, BWML, Bisham Abbey, Nauticalia and Tingdene Marinas will be displaying everything from engines to exhausts, heating to holidays, and cookers to chandlery items – and there should be some good deals, too.
The show runs from 9-18 January at ExCel and will be open from 10am until 6pm every day, with late evening opening until 8pm on Thursday 15 Jan.
To find out more about what’s on at the show, go to londonboatshow.com/2015/home
