A Goode bet
Signing John Goode as a consultant to handle the features for the Collins Stewart London Boat Show at ExCeL (there’s a mouthful) is one of the best things National Boat Shows (NBS) has done this year.

Goode had a huge involvement in the features for the last show once it was realised over at Egham that Tim Pyne was purely a concept man. A very talented man; but one unconcerned with the minutiae of making his concepts work. That’s down to the client.

So Goode stepped in took care of the detail work to turn Pyne’s excellent ideas into reality. OK, so the Engine Feature didn’t exactly set the world alight. But Anchor Watch did, and the execution of that was just about 100% John Goode.

Goode has, as I point out in the LBS features article on page XX, one massive benefit to the show; a passion for - and a huge knowledge of - all things concerning boats and the sea. So his input to the Collins Stewart London Boat Show at ExCeL will be valuable in the extreme.

He has an empathy for this industry that will communicate itself to the visitors through the work he does on the features for the 2008 show.

I have only one reservation; that is Goode’s desire to hear sea shanties at ExCeL. OK, I admit I’m more of a Hendrix man, but I need to be convinced about taking tradition a tad too far.

The year so far
What a washout, eh? After five interest rate rises in the past year – and the MPC sits again before you read this – we could have done with a bit of help from Mother Nature.

Instead, we’re all just about afloat in the wrong kind of way. And with the lousy weather, many firms are only just afloat, at that.

The pips are squeaking and it’s going to be a long, slow year. Let’s hope we get one of those lovely Indian Summers for the Southampton Boat Show.