The turnout consolidated the Crick event’s standing as the premier inland boat show on the waterways. It is the show to see canal boats in their natural habitat and benefits from being in a fixed central midland location adjacent to the M1; although – at the busiest entry times – it can take over an hour to cover the 1½ miles from the motorway into the car parks; something the organisers have not yet solved and which visitors may have to live with.

The only snag with the location is that it is inaccessible to large river cruisers, something that National Boat Shows (NBS) solved with the late lamented Nottingham inland show.

Metal, as always, dominated the show, with nearly 60 narrow and wide beam boats on display; mostly steel-shelled but with aluminium as an attractive alternative. For those looking for a narrowboat between 55ft and 65ft in length, the choice was quite bewildering; but the public, when it was fine, was prepared to spend a lot of time queuing to view the many examples.

This said, it should be realised that quite a number of narrowboat builders, especially some of the old-established quality specialists, do not exhibit at any show.

On the equipment and fittings front, this show also provides the opportunity to see the products of the big suppliers, such as the engine manufacturers, which are also at the big venues such as ExCeL, plus the smaller specialist companies which cannot afford to be at big shows. An example of this is the RN Diesel Engine Company which manufactures the historic, slow-revving, Russell Newberry engines. Small, bespoke upholstery and furniture fitters can also be sought out at shows such as this.

Waterway shows are also the home of what might be described as arts and crafts exhibitors – many depicting the colourful traditions of the canals - and previously they have always been well represented at Crick. However, this year, possibly because of a hike in exhibition charges, there were some noticeable absences among the regulars and some empty spaces in the main marquees. In fact one marquee was half-empty and had obviously been hastily set out as a refreshment bar.

This is something the organisers should take a serious look at for next year.

Contracted out
Crick is run by British Waterways (BW) South East Waterways, with the co-operation of Crick Marina, and this year – for the first time – the show organisation was contracted out to a specialist company, Richmond Event Management (REM).

As Boating Business went to press BW had still not had a meeting with REM to obtain visitor numbers and to analyse results from the show. A BW spokesman told us they were very pleased with REM for this first year. BW also said it was very pleased with what it had heard about sales at the show, with one boatbuilder claiming to have done £600,000 worth of business. BW still considers Crick as the UK’s premier waterway event.

Asked about the show, Mike Cook of Walton Marine Sales, exhibiting the range of Sea Otter Boats, said: ‘The inland waterway sector needs a show which it can call its own or to be part of a bigger show. The timing of this show is about right, but it does not necessarily need to be here. It is probably one of the best inland waterways show we go to. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) National Festival is also very good, but it rather depends on where it is. It does not have the fixed location of Crick boat show.’

Another regular at all the shows, Ed Rimmer of shared-ownership company Challenger Syndicateships, told us: ‘We haven’t brought a boat this year as we are competing with 56 boatbuilders out there. As a company we have stopped building narrowboats and are concentrating on the power boats. It’s a good show but it’s rather affected by the weather, which was the same with the old Nottingham show. Considering the May weather patterns, it should be moved on into June. I feel it works quite well but it does not have the atmosphere of the original Braunston venue. People do good business here but it’s difficult to read the market. Speak to any broker and he will ask you how many 57ft narrowboats do you want? There are too many bloody boatbuilders out there all producing the same product!’

 
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