Top of the list will be a 121ft Sunseeker Tri-Deck yacht worth £11.5m. The Poole company also has a 111ft yacht worth around £7m, while Plymouth-based Princess Yachts will be showing at least four new boats, including a £4m V85 yacht.

Given the current trading conditions and the state of the economy, it might seem entirely appropriate that the ExCeL exhibition venue is now back pitching to run one of the new casinos being developed under the 2005 Gambling Act. The local Newham Council has been awarded one of 16 licences and has a tender process in operation to decide the location of the project.

And if we believe forecasts from America, while this boat show may not attract too many high rollers, many professional forecasters over there are declaring the worst of this 'credit crunch' may soon be over.

Their optimism is based on getting rid of Dubya (hurrah!), welcoming Barack Obama into office and hoping Congress will go for the $675bn stimulus package designed to get the American people spending money and get the economy moving again.

Like us, they also require their banks to start lending to boost the movement of money required to spark the revival. Let's hope the US banking system takes more notice of its leaders than the UK banking system has of Mr Brown to date...

The New York Times says if all the dominos fall the right way, the economy should bottom out and start growing again in small steps by July. They base their prophesies on the December survey of 50 professional forecasters by the Blue Chip Economic Indicators.

American investors seemed to be in a similarly optimistic mood last Friday, bidding up stock by about 3%.

The latest LIBS exhibitor numbers show a burgeoning 500, so the show will look good for however many come through the doors, with hundreds of boats from historic replicas, sailing vessels to modern speedboats and motor yachts.

The smallest, and cheapest, boat on display will be a 5ft children's sailing dinghy costing just £500 while the largest will be the £11.5m Sunseeker shown here, similar to one owned by ex-Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan.

There will be 28 boats on display in the Royal Victoria Dock, which is the same number as last year, but NBS has calculated they are an average of 32ft longer than in 2008 (so that's where your BMF subs go...).

So what will be the outcome of this show? NBS hopes - as does Boating Business - to see 130,000 through the turnstiles for this 55th anniversary of the event in the capital. But who will come?

Robert Braithwaite needs six millionaires to make a it a good show. Chris Murdoch needs six million, each with a pound in their pockets. And NBS has to tread a thin line between the two extremes.

And the reality? Well; let's face it. It's so easy to sit back and wallow in the UK National Press insistence that the four horsemen of the apocalypse are hovering in the wings, waiting to see this industry crash into ruin.

Me? I reckon we've seen a few casualties (including more than a few who would have gone anyway). But this industry is a long way from being beaten yet.

There will be people at ExCeL with money to spend.

Just make sure you get your share of whatever's going...

Peter Nash
Editor