The Southampton Boat show is currently running with the last day tomorrow.   I haven’t been for years but, of course, now we have Trouper.  This time we had an agenda.  We wanted to find out more about: boat electronics, alternative energy sources, scout for a boat bargain and look at the new boats.

Boat Electronics

We looked at the B&G instruments as that would be compatible with what we already have.  They had a massive stand with all the latest gizmos on display.  The chart plotter radar display looked interesting but it would be a costly upgrade for us as it won’t connect to our existing radar so that would have to be changed too.  One for the wish list (eBay) rather than an immediate purchase.

Alternative energy sources

Every possible option seemed to be available from wind and solar to generators and fuel cell.  Tom liked the fuel cell and I liked the solar.  Both add complexity to our current set up and would need to be stored somewhere.  We’re trying to keep the boat rubbish to a minimum as we’ve sailed on other boats where the amount of stuff you lug around grows exponentially with time.  All are costly ranging from about £700 for solar to £8000 for a generator. The return on investment in terms of convenience or financial savings are limited and, if I’m honest, beyond the natural life of the product.  I think we decided to try one flexible solar panel to act as a way of topping up batteries when we’re away for days at a time but we’ll wait until next year to purchase.

Boat bargains

We did quite well with the bargain hunting.  We managed to get two replacement fenders, genoa sheets, mainsheet traveller, fuel can for the tender and a copy of next year’s almanac.  Luckily the stands will keep purchases safe until you’re ready to leave.  We think that we made about between 5%-70% saving on chandlery prices but you do need to shop around the various stands.

New boats

We looked at X-Yachts, Beneteau, Ancona Yachts.  All had boats in something that was around the 43′ length.  The boats had a number of layout options.  The Beneteau’s looked to be good value for money, spacious with a wide range of options.  The Ancona yacht was more traditional in feel and I had confidence that it would be a safe sea boat.  Interestingly the X-Yachts have split their range into sporty and classic.  We went on the classic and it had the feel of a hotel room complete with walk in shower.  However the internal finish felt cheaper than their older boats and I was left wondering how quickly signs of wear and tear would begin to show.  Call us biased but we didn’t see anything we liked quite as much as our current boat for what we want to use it for.

We had an interesting day, picked up a few bargains (but nothing superfluous) and some ideas for enhancements to Trouper.