‘I’m not in a position to make a comment on that at the moment,’ he told us. ‘At this moment in time, it’s not true.’

The rumour mill is, of course, working overtime and one rumour BB would like to scotch is that the Peters~Opal troubles were caused by the rejection of a number of Sealine SC29s. These boats, the rumour went on implausibly, were made in the USA…

BB checked this one out with Sealine. ‘Customer satisfaction is our ultimate priority,’ Sealine’s sales and marketing director Nicholas Turner told us. ‘We had minor problems on a couple of SC29s and sorted them out to the complete satisfaction of the owners.’

And Sealine doesn’t make boats in the USA, he added, scotching the rumour firmly.

If Peters~Opal does go into administration, Peters could be asked to relinquish his position as president of the British Marine Federation (BMF) as membership of the federation ceases when a company goes bust. BB understands this happened once before in the late1970s.

More news on the Peters~Opal position may well be known by the time you read this. We will issue an update when more information can be confirmed.