Equally the reverse has happened when a committed Trawler owner of many years almost accidentally boarded a motor cruiser, was amazed at what it had to offer and changed allegiances.

Without having the wide variety of boats on offer at shows there is the danger of getting even more in a rut and actually losing boat buyers to motor homes and holiday apartments, a problem which is in danger of expanding due to the proliferation of "Buying in Spain/France etc" TV programmes.

So while we do need a fresh look at how shows are promoted I think Jim's suggestion could be a long term problem. The US already has Sail Boat Shows and Powerboat Shows and here in UK we have the highly successful Dinghy Show so there is an element of niche offering but I fear any further specialisation would be financially difficult to support and a nightmare for the smaller equipment suppliers who would have even more shows to attend.

Yours, etc, Saltwater Communications, Poole