However, Peter Whitehead, national marine manager, sounded a note of caution: "It was always going to be tough with the early start date, the floods and freak snow in London, " he said. "Add economic uncertainty and fears of impending war and I believe some are being cautious about their purchasing plans for 2003."

He also pointed out the company's business split this year shifted from 70/30 in favour of power to 55/45. This, says Whitehead, was due to a drop in applications for lending on large powerboats, previously a large portion of BoS business.

For the first time in many years, the value of proposals completed was down on the previous year, dropping around 9% from £17.1m to £15.6m But, he added, Bank of Scotland already has business worth £42 million pending for 2003.

Lombard Marine Finance has seen its lending rise over the past two years by 60%, said national marine manager, Ian Braham. "The show brings about 15% of our introductions and is very important to us."

The number of proposals was marginally up on last year, said Braham, but more significantly the average level of funding applied for has increased from £127k at last year's show, to £133k this year.

Lombard also felt the show had been hit by the weather and the early start date, although Braham told us these factors "did not seem to prevent serious purchasers from visiting the Lombard stand".

The split between number of applications taken for power or sail vessels has swung 4% towards sail compared to 2002, with the percentages now 56% power and 44% sail.

Barclays Marine Finance also reported overall figures up on last year, despite the adverse weather conditions.

Final figures reveal an 8% increase in proposals with a 60/40 split in favour of power and the total amount advanced during the show was up 20% on 2002. The company said the number of unsecured loans remained constant while mortgages have increased.

Over the course of the show the average balance was £103,000.

"The show started off very strongly but quietened down towards the middle of the week", commented James Crew, senior marine sales manager. But, he added, the Thursday late opening was very successful in terms of new business deals and enquiries.

"At present there is cautious optimism regarding consumer spending and, excluding the boat show, we have 25-30% more applications in the pipeline to pay to dealers and customers than we had last year."