The forecast on Thursday and Friday reckoned the Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse were straining at the leash in Calshot, ready to ride north over the weekend.

So who can blame the crowds for staying away?

But even when it did rain, it seems business was done on very respectable levels.

According to organisers, National Boat Shows (NBS), more than 123,000 visitors came to the show - 20,000 down on last year. This figure has yet to be audited, but is unlikely to change a great deal.

The show was opened by the GBR Olympic gold medal winners - our picture shows Yngling skipper Shirley Robertson cracking open a well-earned bottle of bubbly to declare the show officially open.

Ellen MacArthur also sailed into the show aboard her new trimaran B&Q, one of its first public displays and the Honda Formula 4-stroke racing finals were adjudged to be a great success across the first weekend.

HMS Newcastle proved an extremely popular feature with around 15,000 visitors taking the opportunity to tour the ship, while Ross Burden's first ever restaurant, The Waterfront, was also a tremendous success with 2,500 people enjoying the culinary delights.

"The show has proven to be incredibly robust and although grey skies have prevented a record year for attendance it's certainly been a success with additions like our extended marina and the new Solent Park area helping to pull in the crowds, " said Paul Streeter, managing director of NBS.

Our review starts on page 26 with just some of the many new products that were shown. We'll try to get the others in the next few issues.