But enough of that, what about Raymarine? They wanted to tell us all about their year which, said general sales manager Peter Dudman, had been fantastic. Whereas 2003 had seen a great deal of business from the southern European OEMs, 2004 has brought in business across the board and seen an increase in aftermarket sales as well.

"China and Russia have been exceptional, " he said, "and Norway has proved to be one of the largest growth markets."

And growth has come across the range, driven by the CSeries which "caught us a bit by surprise". There was also growth in entry level products, with the A Series taking the lead from fishfinders and small hand held chartplotters. .

Fiona Pankhurst, international marketing communications manager, outlined the company's promotional programme, highlighting the solo sailors - Brad van Liew, Alex Bennett and Emma Richards, plus Shelly Jory and Debra Francis in the Honda powerboats.

Raymarine also went in for some event sponsorship, such as the Warsash Spring Series, which sees a great turnout of cruisers racers - "precisely the Raymarine target market", she said.

Cowes Week Radio provided high visibility and got some very good airtime and the Raymarine/Yachting Journalists Association (YJA) Yachtsman of the Year and Young Sailor of the Year awards also helped raise the Raymarine profile.

"These programmes give confidence to customers, " said Pankhurst.

Launched 25 products Raymarine's immediate future was outlined by Keiran Breheny, design and development director, who pointed out the company had launched 25 products since January this year - among them H6 and the 240E high end VHF - and that wasn't the end of it.

With the legislation changing all the time, such as radar requirements and the talk of AIS - "even more important to the leisure market" - Raymarine's 130 design and development engineers will be kept busy for some time yet.

"We have new radar technology, new autopilot technology, new wireless technology - promised within the next 12 months - and a mini version of the H6." The mini H6, however, was dependent on the success of H6, trials of which have been "challenging".

Malcolm Miller, CEO, reckoned Raymarine had had a good year, but that its competitors had seen "a mixed year".

"We do 75% of our business in the first eight months of the year and this year our key selling point was innovation, " he said.

This has resulted in increased demand, which has resulted in 24 hour shifts being worked.

"We're working hard to expand our supply capability, " he said, admitting the company initially had problems coping with the increased demand.

"We didn't deliver on time, " he said simply.

As a result, Raymarine now has a new corporate headquarters in Northharbour Road, some three miles from Anchorage Park, which will now be dedicated to production.

"The changes give us 50% more production space, " said Miller.

SIBS press day starts with Bank of Scotland Marine Finance (unless you get caught on the M27 in the middle of a torrential downpour), where national marine manager Peter White-head tells it like it is - a refreshing change.

He admitted 2004 had been a challenging year for the marine industry and confirmed the first eight months trading had seen BoS down on last year.

However, Whitehead found some mitigating circumstances, such as the lousy summer and interest rate rises. "The decision by the Bank of England to leave base rates at their present modest rate of 4.75% was good news going into the show, " he said.

Dometic has had a bit of a change around since its purchase of Sealand, Taylor Made Environmentals, Cruisair and MarineAir.

Trevor Goldsmith is now working out of the Paris office for the Dometic Corporation as director of sales and marketing for Dometic marine brands across Europe and the Middle East. "I'm bringing the company closer to the OEMs, " he told BB.

Michael Leete is now Dometic's UK principal and he explained to BB how the warehousing, distribution and administration is being relocated to the company's 25,000 sq ft facility in Luton.

Sales and technical support for the marine industry remains at Poole, where Paul Hickinbotham and Steve Morris will continue to manage Dometic's UK marine business.

Lee Sanitation is no longer Dometic's agent for its Sealand Sanitation range but will continue to provide aftersales service under contract.

Dometic launched itsVacuFlush 3600 series allchina toilet and matching bidet. They say the 3600 series toilet offers many advanced features to make using and maintaining the fixture as easy as possible.

Patented Flush and Forget technology lets users touch a wall-mounted switch to activate electronically programmed operations - either to flush or add water to the bowl. Adjustable water levels, multiple operating modes and the diagnostic LED array are used to change settings for normal use or routine maintenance.

The adult-size seat and standard residential height offer home comforts and multiple pre-set water levels include a setting to permit flushing with as little as one pint of fresh water per flush, against conventional installations that can use more than one gallon (3.8 l) per flush. This enables owners to increase holding tank capacity by up to 400%.

Yanmar Marine is introducing a new worldwide marketing communications programme aimed at end-user boaters. The Powerful Gem, a device depicting a pearl within an opening oyster shell, will appear on corporate and product advertising, sales literature, showroom aids and at boat shows. It will be developed through Yanmar Marine's global distributor network.

Company president Geert Jan Mantel said: "We have always enjoyed excellent relations with boat builders, architects, dealers, fleet operators and with the trade generally. Now we are turning round to talk more to the boating public as well."

The company also launched the third in its YM series of naturally aspirated diesel engines, the two-cylinder 2YM15.

At 3,600 rpm it develops 14hp (10.3kW) at the crankshaft.

Displacement is 0.57 litres. The engine has a completely redesigned cylinder block and the combustion system introduced recently on the new 21hp (15.3kW), 29hp (21.3kW), 39hp (28.7kW) and 54hp (39.6kW) models.

It is a vertical four-stroke, fresh water cooled with heat exchanger. With indirect injection and a swirl pre-combustion chamber, Yanmar says this allnew engine complies with EPA Tier 2, BSO Tier 2 and SAV and will meet the future 2003/44/EC emission requirements to be introduced in 2005.

It's available as a standard inboard with KM2P-1 gearbox, or fitted with Yanmar's doubleseal SD20 saildrive unit.

B&G says its Remote Vision wireless control will revolutionise sailing. The system is designed to work with B&G's h2000 range of autopilots and instruments and has been in development for over two years.

RemoteVision is smaller than a palm PC and features a full LCD graphical screen and a 5-button control. It utilises wireless technology to send and receive data from B&G's h2000 Hercules and Hydra pilots and instruments.

All autopilot and instrument system parameters can be viewed and changed using RemoteVision from anywhere on a vessel.

Simrad launched a new dVHF radio range, the RS82. The RS80 dVHF radio range will expand with this new system designed primarily for use on leisure craft.

The RS82 offers a practical DSC solution and is fully class D DSC capable. It features an ergonomically designed fully waterproof handset that forms the basis of a cost-effective multiple VHF set-up. The waterproof handset has a numeric keypad and an MMSI directory makes repeat calls easy.

The handset incorporates a loudspeaker as well as the normal earpiece and the transceiver can be placed almost anywhere on a vessel.

The RS82 is particularly suited to a dual station communication system. With two handsets fitted the radio can also be used as an intercom system.

The product utilises Simrad's SimNet data sharing and control network, which gives users the ability to view DSC messages on Simrad's 34, 44 and 54 multi-role units.

These messages can be directly acknowledged from the plotters, negating the need to attend to the VHF.

Barton Marine launched its Clamseal, a highly innovative repair and safety system for repairing punctures in inflatable dinghies.

The patented ClamSeal is, effectively, a clamp that is held closed by a hand-tightened nut on a threaded rod through the two flat pieces. The two pieces are connected by a captive lanyard that runs through the rod. The bottom half of the clamp is fed through the hole;

the second half is dropped into place down the captive lanyard and the nut is tightened by hand.

And that's it. Pump the boat up again and the repair can actually last indefinitely before a permanent repair need be carried out.

The secret is in the sealing lips on each half of the product, which hold fast even when the material is wet.

Watermota launched two new Daewoo marine engines.

The LO86TIL is an 8-litre in-line 6-cylinder turbocharged and intercooled unit developing 360bhp (265kW) @2500rpm.

This will be the second LO86TIL engine to be imported to the UK.

The first was air freighted earlier this year and is now installed in a Lochin 33 in Anglesey. The engine from SIBS went straight to the Isle of Wight for installation in an Offshore 105.

Ocean Safety launched what it says is the smallest 406MHz personal EPIRB, the ACR AquaFix 406.

Small enough to be put in a pocket, or stored in the rubber holster or using the carabiner clip - both supplied - to clip it to a lifejacket or oilskin, the flat stainless steel antenna wraps around the unit for compact stowage and rapid deployment.

There are two options; the 406 W/GPS Interface transmits a unique, digitally encoded digital signal on 406MHz via COSPASSARSAT and a 121.5MHz SAR homing frequency. This model also has an external optical GPS interface for a hand-held GPS so it can transmit rescue coordinates.

The second option - the 406 GPS I/O P-EPIRB - offers the Full Monty: internal GPS, ACR's FastACQ GPS technology, plus the external GPS interface.

Ocean Safety says it relays accurate GPS information to the satellites "faster than all other GPS EPIRBS".

Webasto added a new water station to its Thermotop range of diesel-fired water heaters, giving users the selection of a "hot water only" setting to offer total control of both heating and hot water.

The company also launched two inexpensive insulation products. They say Thermoduct maximises the heat output from any heater.

Exclusive to Webasto, the low cost product provides what Webasto says is exceptional thermal insulation around the ducting, preventing any heat loss on extended ducting runs.

Another new insulation product from Webasto is Thinsulate, which forms an excellent thermal and acoustic barrier.

Yamaha launched four midrange outboards. The F50F efi and F60C efi - both with high thrust FT versions - the 2stroke 20DWOL and the 4stroke F20AETL.

The four-stroke 50hp efi and 60hp efi outboards feature Yamaha's advanced Multipoint Electronic Fuel Injection System and are ideal for sportsboats, RIBs, fast fishing boats and inflatables.

With SOHC in-line cylinders and 996cc displacement, Yamaha says they offer significant improvements over earlier models.

The Engine Control Module offers a digital management system, fail-safe and Yamaha's exclusive diagnostic system.

The engines are compact:

smaller than competitors, lighter than comparable fourstroke outboards with new style flush fittings that enhance the lean lines.

Each cylinder receives a precisely adjusted air/fuel mix ensuring power output across all the operating range. Long intake manifold increases torque at low speed.

Yamaha says the engines are up to 15% more efficient than competitors through optimal ignition control and fuel injection and the Yamaha four-stroke "clean burn" technology with blow-by gas re-burning system helps eliminate pollution, exhaust smoke and odour.

Engine sound at low rpm is minimised by the labyrinth exhaust. Water-sealed muffler outer wall effectively tones down noise. Overall engine sounds are reduced to be lower than competitors.

Two other Yamaha models were also introduced. These established 20hp four and twostroke outboards are ideal for small boats using long shaft units and have proved very successful on 3.8m and 4m plus YAM inflatables in other markets.

Perkins Sabre's M92B is the upgraded version of its M92.

Based on the new Perkins 1100 Series engine, the M92B is a naturally aspirated, direct injection, 4-cylinder, 4.4 litre unit that develops maximum power at 2,400rpm.

It's fully compliant with the European Tier II gaseous and particulate pollutant emissions regulations and the US' EPA Stage Two regulations. It is also capable of compliance with the RCD and the CCNR Stage One requirements.

The M92B is designed for a wide range of craft, from inland waterways to coastal craft to passenger ferries.

Eclectic Energy launched its D400 direct drive wind generator. Designed for use on boats or land based applications, it is, they say, extremely quiet and vibration-free.

It is capable of sustained high outputs, producing up to 400W, said managing director Peter Anderson. "We see it as a good option for customer who don't require the dual mode operation of the Duogen."

Suzuki introduced a new range of multifunction digital on-board instrumentation designed for use with the Suzuki 40 to 250hp range of fuel injected 4-stroke outboards.

Named the Commander series, some 12 operating parameters are monitored and displayed on two gauges - a tachometer and speedometer.

The Commander series comes as a complete kit including multifunction tachometer and speedometer;

transducers; harnesses and owners manual. Black or white dial gauges are available.

The instruments provide an analogue readout of the engine revs and boat speed and digital readouts of the other parameters.

Incorporated into the tachometer are a number of engine fuel management functions including level, current operating consumption, quantity used and amount remaining in the tank. Other functions are engine running time and automatic warnings of over temperature, over revving, low oil and engine malfunction.

The speedometer incorporates a record of distance travelled and depth sounder, enabling the amount of water to be easily displayed.

"The new "Commander" series will be available from dealers by early autumn 2004, " said Masa Shimizu, Head of Suzuki Marine Sales in Europe.

Clive Johnson, managing director of Tacktick, manufacturers of the DAME Awardwinning Micronet wireless instrumentation system says they did a lot of business at the show. He also reckoned The Big Boys have got a lot of work to do to catch up with Micronet.

"It will be 2006 before we see real wireless technology from them, " he said, "and we'll be launching the next generation of Micronet next year."