Dinghy Show 2009

It was still quite early in the morning, the sun was already shining brightly, there was hardly any wind and, the breath of numerous passing joggers indicated that it was still pretty chilly outside. Yet the view from the historic location we arrived at offered a clear and vast vantage point over a huge area of North London, leaving you wondering what people were indeed doing down in the city.

Alexandra Palace has been a popular venue for numerous years and from the cars queuing to get into the car park and people bustling around towards the front of the building, it was evident even at this early hour before the show opened, that the thronging dinghy fraternity were arriving on mass.

On entering the main hall it was noticeable just how more professionally organised the display of classes has indeed become, a move from those past years when enthusiastic builders and class associations had very average looking stands. This year the Musto Performance Skiff stand was situated opposite Ovington Boats, which offered great space and a good position to show off the boat, which this year belonged to our Class Youth rep Dan Henderson.

Oddly, both days appeared to start off quite quietly, which made one wonder if the downturn in the economy was indeed taking its toll on many sailors interest, yet after the first hour it was obvious that the swell of visitors had filtered down to our end of the hall and it was busy right up to mid afternoon. Aside the arrival of sailing friends old and new, which included Mitja Morgan from Slovenia and Pablo Arandia from Spain, it was pleasing to be able to welcome current and past enthusiasts of the Class, with visits from our Class President Keith Musto, Luca Devoti, Tim Tavinor and, informal discussion with ISAF members.

What was noticeable over the weekend however was not just the interest from many ordinary sailors, but from a broad number of sailors from various established performance classes, who were clearly reviewing their options, impressed with the growth and direction of the class. But more encouraging, was the increase in interest displayed by quite a number of Youth sailors, many of which are presently sailing 29ers. That bodes well for the continued development of the class at Youth level and, the timing this year of the introduction of the Youth Champion Trophy put up by Seldon.

Looking around all the classes across the show and the current pricing of some traditional as well as performance classes, it did underline just what a great design it is that we sail and, what a good value product the Musto Performance Skiff still is. The only thing more surprising than the cost of coffee or bacon roll on offer, was the price of a competitive foiling Moth, which was nearly double that of a Musto!

The one thing the show did bring to bare, apart from warm sun through a glass roof, was the shear enthusiasm for the sailing season immediately ahead and, with the recent weekend of warm weather, I can sense that for the vast majority of us that can’t come quick enough.

As usual, thanks for arranging, building and manning the Class stand go to Paul Manning, Rick Perkins, Tim Chapman, Chris Henderson, Dan Henderson, Graeme Oliver and Andy Peake.