The ladder leaning against its side sunk into the goo and wobbled whenever someone set foot on the rungs. So we lashed the top of the ladder to the boat and all was well. The punters kept coming.

A year later, we graduated from mud to road. The cruiser still sat on its trailer, but this and the boarding ladder were now securely parked on Mayflower Park tarmac.

Feeling brave, we decided our exhibit would look better if it sported sails - so hoisted the mainsail and jib. It did indeed look splendid - until the Southampton afternoon breeze got up and propelled rigged boat and trailer across the road.

The visitors laughed and the deposit cheques continued to roll in. Those were the days.

Health and Safety police were there none. And the costs of exhibiting were minimal.

Emboldened by commercial success, we succumbed to the lure of Earls Court. Being newcomers, our boats - including a new waterjet powered motor cruiser - were banished to the balcony.

At much the same time, a similar sized company called Poole Powerboats (run by a certain Robert Braithwaite) was exhibiting attractive motor boats of much the same length - around 20ft. As the years passed, he and his company became - to put it mildly - considerably more successful than most!

As show costs rose remorselessly, some companies realised that there was a way of exhibiting fully rigged sailing boats and medium sized motor boats that would keep stand costs at sensible levels at Earls Court - put them in the pool.

That way, wheel-chair friendly ramps, walkways, extra spotlights, expensive standfitting, carpeting and all other associated razzamatazz became redundant. What's more, showgoers thought that those exhibitors who floated their boats in the pool had paid extra.

So they gained kudos at the same time as saving money.

Unanticipated leak The only risk was an unanticipated leak beneath the waterline. Despite the irritating interruptions of fatuous fashion shows, it was a great way to exhibit a boat. And all continued to be well.

But as exhibitors bobbed on the Earls Court pool, developments were afoot. A new phenomenon was emerging under the towering curved roof of the new Earls Court 2 hall. We called it Stand Wars.

Restricted height in the old Earls Court side spaces (and in many halls where continental European Boat Shows are held) meant limited possibilities. The only practical way to exhibit boats - especially large motor boats - was to line them up in rows on the floor (covered with tasteful carpet), erect a walkway with steps and invite the visitors aboard.

Low walls bordering each stand were emblazoned with names and logos to emphasise brand identity. Potted plants added colour and extra spots bolstered the dingy overhead hall lighting. Much as at a motor show, the product did most of the speaking.

But this all started to change when the high ceiling in Earls Court 2 upped the ante. Stands could go upwards. Bigger boats could be exhibited. And, as one major motorboat builder recently told me: "The bigger your biggest boat is, the more of a premium price you can charge for the smaller boats in your range."

The reasoning is simple. The buyer of a smaller boat likes to feel directly associated with the biggest and most glamorous boat in the same range. And he likes to see a viable trading route when or if he decides to buy bigger.

As a result, a new (and expensive) arms race began.

As the major (and very successful) British builders such as Fairline, Princess, Sealine and Sunseeker, strove to position their brands at the top of the pile, so they began to pile their products ever higher above the Earls Court floor.

Set the pace Sunseeker set the pace.

Visitors to their stand found ever increasing layers of exhibits rising up to a gleaming fibreglass summit. And, hanging over this small mountain of Sunseekers, was a boldly branded and stunningly expensive suspended canopy carrying more spotlights than Covent Garden opera house on a gala opening night.

Predictably, the competition had to follow. David King of Princess Yachts puts it simply:

"Sunseeker led the way - or forced everyone else to chase them - depending on which way you look at it. But they made a point. Customers liked it."

So other stands grew upwards as ever-larger boats were perched atop ever more complex elevated steel structures. And the competing canopies - with their serried rows of dazzling spotlights - lit up the stands like the blazing mid-summer day sun.

Since the move to ExCeL, these Stand Wars have - if anything - hotted up.

Perversely, the main reduction in exhibit impact has been compulsorily foisted on the big sailing boat dealers.

Even if they wanted to, it is impossible to raise a full sized mast under ExCeL's low ceilings. And at the same time, Stand Wars have now begun to spread to Southampton.

Even though many boatbuilders sigh with relief and moor their boats in the marina - thereby escaping the health and safety inspectors' ever more stringent and costly demands and expensive road transport and craning costs - some still prefer to stay ashore.

Sunseeker's 2005 Southampton Show stand was probably their biggest and most dramatic yet.

There can be no doubt that boatbuilders - especially the UK's Big Four - do a great service to their myriad suppliers.

After all, their combined turnover must by now amount to around half a billion pounds a year, and that's a lot of moolah to spread around the marine trade in general. So everyone benefits.

Financial return But some wonder whether these spectacular stands produce a financial return proportional to their everrising costs. Even though Stand Wars are spreading to mainland European Shows, do their predominantly simpler stands produce any less business as a result of being less exotic and expensive?

Brian Peters, who has exhibited at Earls Court then ExCeL since 1960, believes they do. "My view is that the public do come to boat shows to look at boats in a friendly and accessible climate."

He says that a dramatic presentation "will attract more customers than a boat simply on a stand with possibly carpet under it and little more than a boarding ladder or platform".

David King agrees: "We're dealing with high net worth individuals who appreciate presentation and back-up in line with the product's value and their own expectations."

But he does concede that the costs are escalating. "The cost of stand space and construction at the two UK shows is higher than at any other European show. For example, Genoa and Cannes are just as important. But they cost less."

And what if someone wanted to reduce costs? His answer was; "If any boatbuilder decided to save money at ExCel, he would do better to achieve this by taking less space and showing fewer boats. But the stand would still need to be just as lavish and inviting."

So even if trickier trading times are just around the corner, the big players are unlikely to call a truce. The dramatic impact that these huge stands make is undeniable. And they are here to stay.

As Brian Peters puts it: "I believe that Earls Court and ExCeL have had a major influence on a number of European shows and the US have long since realised that presentation is all important.

In my view, more boats will be sold if they are properly displayed in such a way as to attract the buying public to the sales floor."

And with his new range of Azimuts to display (26 models from 39 to 116 ft) he'll no doubt soon be putting this into practice.