And have we got a show for you. There are 150 exhibitors covering all kinds of products:

engines, electronics, pumps, air conditioning, ropes and cordage, stainless steel manufacturing, paints and coatings, safety equipment, deck gear, lights, pontoons and much, much more.

You'll see some famous names.

Like Raymarine. Watermota.

Volvo Penta. Mermaid. Halyard.

Holt. Krueger. Nauticalia.

For a selection of products under one roof, you'll find the distributors: Navimo, Marathon Leisure, E C Smith, SM Group, Pro-Boat and Keto are here.

Take a look at the categories list that starts on page 24 to see what we've got at the BIC to interest you.

So it doesn't matter if you are a chandler, a boatbuilder, a designer or surveyor; there's something that will interest you at BBEx.

We expect most of the exhibitors to launch new products at the show - see a few of them in our BBEx products feature starting on page 36.

And check our Innovations Showcase in the exhibition where we'll show a selection of the latest products on offer to the UK trade. See section on Innovations Showcase below.

We've also set up some workshops to give you information on topics that will interest you - the future of retailing against the Internet, the future of the Internet, latest developments in the RCD, advertising and promotion for small companies, VAT on 2nd hand boats and squeezing results from your stock investment.

We aim to give you a 15 or 20 minute presentation of the facts, then throw things over to you to ask questions.

None of the workshops require that you leave the exhibition floor. We have two workshops each day in the Cafeteria area of the Windsor Hall, while the Breakfast Briefing on Thursday is in the Solent Bistro - see the show floor plan on pages 26 and 27.

See the section on workshops for more details.

We're having a party!

And on the Wednesday evening, we're having a party.

This is free for all exhibitors and all pre-registered visitors - you can pre-register through the website at www.bbex.co.uk The party is in the Bourne Lounge at the top of the escalator and it starts as soon as the show finishes at 17.30 and there will be free drinks and things on sticks. And this is where we will be presenting our three awards in association with the Marine Trades Association (MTA).

We have the Retailer of the Year, the Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the Young Businessperson of the Year.

The Retailer of the Year award has been running for some time now and is currently held by Mailspeed Marine.

But then we have two new awards, which we are also presenting in association with the MTA. Both are designed to highlight the men and women who will influence the future of the UK recreational marine industry, hence the requirement that nominations would be accepted only for those aged 40 or under.

We're looking for the movers and shakers of the future.

The Young Entrepreneur of the Year is open to a single person, or a partnership, that has brought an innovative company or product to market, or which has developed a new route to market, or broken the barriers to customer service.

The Young Businessperson of the Year seeks to highlight the man or woman who is employed, but has had a similar effect on the company for which they work. They were instrumental in bringing an innovative product to market, developed new routes to market, influenced customer facing developments. Or just influenced their company by sheer weight of personality.

Once we have made those presentations, the evening is yours: there will be no Gala Dinner.

But you'll find lots of superb restaurants in Bournemouth.

BBEx is open on Wednesday February 22 and Thursday, February 23 and the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), from 10.00 to 17.30 on Wednesday and 10.00 to 17.00 Thursday.

On Thursday we also have the Breakfast Briefings, which begin at 09.00 in the Solent Restaurant and run for 40 minutes.

Is BB an exhibition company?

The short answer is no.

Boating Business is the UK's major recreational marine industry Business to Business publication.

But BB is owned by Mercator Media, which also publishes Maritime Journal, Navigation News, Port Strategy and Engineering Capacity magazines, as well as producing the Seawork exhibition.

Seawork 2006 is the 9th running of the show. It will be held on June 13 - 16 in the ABP Port of Southampton and has grown year on year as more features have been added and its reputation has spread worldwide.

When Seawork started it was essentially a UK show, so the international companies left exhibiting to their UK branches.

These days, those same international companies book from head office and send international representation.

This year's show is expected to be some 15% bigger than last year's show and counts sponsoring companies such as VT Halmatic, ZF, EDS, CRP Group, Damen, Scania, Dometic, Jotun JMU, Maritime Journal, Suzuki Marine, Honda Marine and Marine & Industrial Transmissions.

And the Seawork Gala Dinner is now a must-attend, attracting over 500 people each year for an excellent evening's food and entertainment in St Mary's Football stadium in Southampton.

Why Bournemouth and the BIC?

The Bournemouth International Centre is a world class event facility. It has just opened additional exhibition halls that are ideal for the Boating Business Exhibition.

Easy access location Bournemouth has excellent travel connections.

By road There are direct motorway and dual carriageway links from the west, north and east.

(M27/A31/A35/A338). The BIC has its own adjoining secure multi storey car park for 600 vehicles. Additionally, there are express coach services to many UK towns and cities.

By rail There are excellent network links to Bournemouth from London Waterloo (offering direct Eurostar connections) as well as fast daily services with direct connections with Scotland, the North and the Midlands.

By air Bournemouth International Airport has daily low cost flights from Belfast, Dublin, the Channel Islands, GlasgowPrestwick and a wide choice of European destinations.

Nearby Southampton International Airport has flights from Aberdeen, Cork, Edinburgh, Isle of Man, LeedsBradford, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and European destinations. There will be a regular coach service from both airports to the BIC.

Accommodation The Bournemouth area offers the highest number of bed spaces of any events town outside London with over 30,000 beds available. These range from low cost guesthouses to four star hotels - take advantage of the preferential rates for BBEx visitors - contact Delegate Reservations on 01202 451722 or email deleres@bournemouth.gov.uk You'll be able to book excellent hotel accommodation close to the BIC from only £25 per person per night. And if you do book your hotel through Delegate Reservations you'll also get a book full of discount vouchers for various shops, restaurants and hotels in Bournemouth.

You'll find offers for Legends Cafe Bar, Qube Clothing, Makia Italian Restaurant, The Royal Bath Hotel leisure club, Ocean Palace Restaurant, Royal Exeter Hotel accommodation and the Offshore Cafe.

Oh, and you'll a complimentary VIP entry voucher for Spearmint Rhino.

This, I've been informed, is a gentleman's club: I wonder if Portsmouth Poll will be working there during BBEx?

The Venue The BIC is one of the UK's leading venues for conferences and exhibitions and has just been the subject of a £20m redevelopment. The Solent and Windsor Halls are purpose built exhibition areas both located on a single level.

There is WIFI throughout so visitors and exhibitions can access email and the Internet with ease at high transmission speeds.

Additionally, the BIC has a dedicated catering and bar facilities; conference and meeting rooms; easy access for exhibitors during build-up;

underground storage during the exhibition; full air conditioning; good disabled access and a deaf loop system.

The BIC is in the centre of the vibrant and cosmopolitan resort of Bournemouth and is only a short walk to a tremendous range of restaurants, hotels and nightlife. Plus an excellent shopping centre with all the famous names.

The Workshop programme While we're calling them workshops, they are really more along the lines of forums.

They are highly informal gatherings set in the exhibition itself - there's not searching for a room somewhere else in the building down a maze of corridors.

You'll get 15 - 20 minutes of factual material delivered in an easy to understand way. At the end of the talk, you are at liberty to ask as many questions as you like.

Wednesday February 22 11.00 Nigel John on VAT on Secondhand boats The Cafeteria in Windsor Hall Anyone involved in brokerage will know the confusion that reigns over establishing VAT provenance on secondhand boats.

Nigel John, company secretary of the British Marine Federation (BMF), has been involved in top level discussions with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and will outline the latest position. He will also ask you for evidence of problems in establishing VAT provenance that he can pass onto the HMRC people currently negotiating with Brussels.

15.00 Nik Parker or Nigel Saw with an RCD Update The Cafeteria in Windsor Hall The latest amendment to the Recreational Craft (RCD) came into force on January 1 this year. We have the BMF technical director, Nik Parker, and the BMF technical manager, Nigel Saw, on standby: one of them will run the presentation to bring you up to date on changes that could affect you.

Thursday February 23 09.00 Breakfast Briefing Solent Bistro in Solent Hall - set for 40 minutes David Lewin, now managing director of Flag Paints, he helped Compass Watersports make the decision to pull out of the London Boat show, instead relying on sales generated over the Internet. He outlines how the retail sector will be hit by the Internet and offers thoughts on how best to work with it.

Ian Atkins, managing director of boats. com, tells us what is gong to happen with the Internet over the next few years:

how it will develop and what this will mean for business.

11.00 Jonno Barrett - Living on the Margin Cafeteria in Windsor Hall Living on the Margin - Jonno Barrett from Kudos tells you how you can squeeze results from your stock investment.

15.00 Paul Terry on advertising and promotion for small businesses Paul Terry, managing director of PNTA - which handles clients such as Crewsaver and Jabsco -talks about how best the small business can go about advertising and promoting themselves in the local press.

BBEx Innovation Showcase Situated at the top of the exhibition in Windsor Hall - see floorplan on pages 26 and 27 - the Innovations Showcase has the latest new products on offer to the UK trade.

As we closed for press, these were the Innovations Showcase entries we had received: as you can see, BBEx has lots for you to see. You want new products?

We've got them.

Cooney Marine - stand 61 Launched at the London Boat Show 125KG Lift Swivelling Davits pushing the boundary of Davit Design using advanced manufacturing techniques.

Yacht Kit - stand 22 Yacht Kit announces a revolutionary new Gotop Mid Layer System using technology from other outdoor pursuits such as climbing and mountaineering.

Baltic Safety - stand 33 The Baltic GT is a new generation of buoyancy aid.

Robust Fabric, Neoprene shoulder inserts & waistbands means the buoyancy aid fits like a glove.

Flag Paints - stand S22 Thin film, very quick drying, PTFE low friction, low toxicity antifouling.

International Paint - stand 13 The first Paint Safe range of easy to use cleaning products for the complete restoration and protection of all substrates.

Pro-boat - stand 63 A new opening luff rope prefeeder manufactured by Wichard, particularly targeting regatta sailors. Preventing the need to remove the headsail from the luff grove to re-hoist.

CA Clase UK - stand 36 Northstar 8000i is the ultimate integrated marine electronic system. It encompasses Touch Screen, Navigation, Multimedia entertainment and instrumentation.

C-Quip - stand 47 The Aqualine Cleat is a new style of lifting cleat made of mirror polished 316 stainless steel. Lift the wings up for use, push them down when not in use to prevent tangles.

Holt - stand 70 Mobwatcher wireless man overboard safety system gives freedom to move around motorvessels. Two units communicate on board using radio waves - should you fall in wearing the personal unit, the engine stops immediately. Used by Hamble Harbour Authority.

Holt - stand 70 Stainless steel folding anchor for small craft deployed from showed to operational state in one single action. Innovative design geometry with excellent high penetration qualities for vessels up to 6.5 metres.

Marine Rescue - stand S11 Sea Marshall 'SOS' personal locator beacon. Automatic activation after 15 seconds immersion. Transmits 'SOS' in Morse via light signal combined with radio signal on 121.5MHz international distress frequency.

Active Research - stand S45 The Actisense NMEA 2000 gateway connects NMEA 0183 electronics to the NMEA 2000 bus and makes wiring a boat easy.

Marine Business - stand S19 Dry Mesh 3D textile for reducing moisture under mattresses. New high tech product made from 100% polyester in a 3D mesh.

Navimo - stand 86 Unique, innovative lifejacket incorporating an inflatable Danbuoy. Increases visibility of MOB massively. Lower your boat's casualties - wear one!

Marathon Leisure - stand 17 Price busting, new, full colour GPS chart plotter from Cobra Marine. Featuring six inch screen and supporting all features of the new C-map max charts.

Marine & Industrial - stand 44 Seajet 036 Shogun Eco is a eco friendly antifoul as it contains no biocides.

Quayside - stand 57 The Quayside XPD Range had been specifically designed to provide comfort, protection and stability in the most extreme sailing conditions.

Penguin Engineering - stand S64 Bio-Sok: launched at London Boat Show 2006. Biodegradable bilge-sok - environmentally friendly and non-toxic and promoted in the Green Blue directory.

Boating Business/ Mercator Media And you'll find the Boating Business/Mercator Media stand in the top corner of the Solent Hall, between stands 84 and 85.

Come and see us: Publisher Andrew Webster, editor Peter Nash and advertisement manager Lorraine Curtis will be at the show full time and other Mercator Media people will be dropping in from time to time.

BBEx 06 - February 22 and 23 at the Bournemouth Inter - national Centre. See you there.