Prior to the appointment of a receiver in October 2001, SS-L had been the UK and Eire distributor for Bombardier's Sea Doo PWCs since 1990 and, more recently, Bombardier's jet boats and ATV's and had also been a major distributor of Mercury outboards since 1961.

With SS-L crashing, Buck appeared to be involved with Jets Marivent as it set up a company to handle the Bombardier product distribution. The High Court case stemmed from that apparent involvement.

Jets Marivent, based in Spain, distributes Sea Doo PWCs and jet boats in 13 European countries, plus, in many of them, Bombardier's all terrain vehicles (ATV), Johnson and Evinrude outboards.

So the court case - slated "to last several days" - seemed set to produce a nice little soap opera for the trade.

But it was settled out of court on the day the action was due to begin - April 1. Buck's only comment to BB was simply that: "The case was settled out of court on April 1st."

Buck's changing life continues. He has split from the Ferretti distributor DS Marine and is now considering other offers, including one from Cannes and one from St Tropez.

"One thing is certain, " he told BB. "We are staying down here in the South of France."

Buck seems to be enjoying life in the sun??.