Not just Sunseekers

We look at the Collins Stewart London Boat Show for the small boat sailor

The Collins Stewart London Boat Show, which starts on Friday 5th January, is a great place to have a Guinness and catch up with friends in the New Year. For the small boat sailor the mass of water-pushing-dugouts can be off putting, but scratch the suface and there are plenty of reasons for a walk about too. With this in mind we have taken a look at what is on offer next weekend.

Laser – Stand N236



Laser has released a family oriented day-sailer, designed with stability in mind. Looking a lot like a slightly bigger version of last year’s release, the Laser Vago, the new Laser Bahia has a trapeze for teaching the little ones how but this is probably not that necessary. The boat is rotomoulded so should hold up well to lots of punishment but will also be slightly heavy than a fibre-glass equivalent. The recommended retail price for the boat is £5195 but it will be available at the boat show for under £5000.

Topper International – Stand N145

Several years ago Topper International announced they were no longer going to build any boats out of glass fibre, rather their entire range would be rotomoulded. It is no surprise then to discover that the new catamaran in their range is a polyethylene, rotomoulded hull. Designed by cat guru Yves Loday and inheriting the now recognisable Topaz name the Topaz C16 is 16ft long and designed to introduce younger sailors into cat sailing.



True to the Topaz name the Topaz C16 comes with more several rig options. The regular C16 version comes with two sails and a single trapeze, whilst a £600 upgrade buys you the C16CX with an extra trapeze (for the helm) and a spinnaker. The C16 certainly has a lot of racing cat blood in its veins and it is a boat we are looking forward to checking out at the show where the price will be announced.

Pro Boat – Stand N106

Possibly one of the most useful new widgets at the show will be the new Smart Pin, manufactured by Danish rigging company Blue Wave and distributed int he UK by Pro Boat. These seem like the definition of a simple job done well. For quick adjustment of a turnbuckle on the shrouds these are a must - the simple pin with velco wrap-around replacing the traditional split pin and tape. By attaching a small piece of Velcro to the pin (that wraps around he entire bottle screw) it makes a nice, flush, secure covering. The smart pins come in four different sizes ranging from ¼” to ¾”and the suggested retail price will be £2.15 each. Buy some for your sportsboat and yachting mates too.



Plas Menai National Watersports Centre – Stand N520

If you are not a pro dinghy sailor but fancy a career sailing everyday in hot sunshine then you might want to pop over to the Plas Menai National Watersports Centre stand and become an RYA certified sailing instructor. Many schools these days offer a chance to become an instructor by taking a course and a test, Plas Menai is no different with a five day course available for very competent sailors. However, this year they are starting to offer something slightly different. The school now does a 12 week instructors course where they accept beginners. They recommend the person attending is able to sail a dinghy around a small triangle shaped course and they will do the rest. Not only do you come out a certified sailing instructor at the other end but you also get the opportunity during the 12 weeks to learn and become qualified to teach windsurfing. If this is not enough for you can also take a 26 week course that will leave you qualified as a sailing, windsurfing and canoeing instructor.

Courses take place in two different locations and teaching time is split between the Plas Menai Sailing School in Wales and their sailing school in Spain. With the two different locations and the intensive training this does not come cheap. The 12 week course is £4300 and the 26 week is around £7000, a hefty amount but if you are in the down-sizing, career changing lane then this may be the ticket.

Aquapack – Stand N252

Two companies have teamed up this year to bring you a product that is well worth going to have a look at. Aquapack, the makers of waterproof casings for VHF radios, mobile phone etc have joined forces with clothing company Helly Hansen to create the Helly Hansen Fjord Jacket. The Fjord Jacket has, as you may have guessed by now, an Aquapack waterproof case incorporated into the design, allowing you to keep your mobile bone dry no matter what you are doing. The jacket retails at £180 which seem like a reasonable cost to us (think of the phone insurance premiums you will save) and is just on display at the Aquapack stand.

Crewsaver – Stand N316

Crewsaver also have some new lines in this year in the shape of their new Control, Shell and Aviator rash-vests. All the vests provide excellent 50 Ultra Violet Protection Factor (UPF) especially for vulnerable areas such as the neck and shoulders. As usual with rash vests they have flatlocked construction and seamless underarms which should provide increased comfort and flexibility. As a response to the increase in people wearing rash-vests over trapeze harnesses the Aviator features a reinforced trapeze hook exit which should last a long time. The Control vest costs £19.95, the Shell vest costs £18.95 and the Aviator costs £19.95

Henri Lloyd – Stand N264



Staying with the clothing theme Henri Lloyd has an extensive new range out this year. Not only have they completely re-launched their sailing gear into new, distinctly indentified ranges, they have also brought out a range of dinghy gear designed with the help of Olympic sailors.

The all new dinghy Stealth range was actually designed with the help of the British Olympic Sailing Team for the Athens Olympics in 2004. While at the time the gear was badged up with Addidas on the sleeve due to team sponsorship the fruits of this development have now been launched to the public. As well as testing with the British Olympic Sailing Team Olympic - Silver Medallists, Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, personally endorse the products. Gone is the BOA blue and incomes two main colour ways with cool design stripes - a 'carbon' black and a good looking and more traditional red. Some of the other items come in a ivory white colour.

The Stealth Drysuit comes in the companies propriety breathable fabric Tp1- with many of the features one expects from such a suit these days. There are longer cuffs on both the legs and arms to prevent chaffing of the rubber seals as well as a Velcro neck flap to help with the same. The belt around the middle and braces on the inside of the suit will help make sure it fits snugly to most body shapes. What is particularly good about this garment is the Cordura reinforcement on the knees and seat which seems to be significantly softer than other suits we have seen. Also new is the zip used, a new design made totally out of plastic which feels more flexible than its metal counterparts and comes with the benefit of being a less expensive component than the traditional metal. One word of warning though, Henri Lloyd says the zip does need to be kept well maintained with some lubrication - a dab of vaseline or a squirt of McLube should do the trick. The suit costs £275 .00 which we feel is a reasonable amount for a good quality drysuit.

Also available is a Tp1 Stealth Dry Top (£80) that we feel could be the best item of the new range. Made from the same material as the drysuit this looks like it will keep any sailor dry and warm. The neck seal is a real innovation here as the old irritating rubber seal has been removed and replaced with a soft neoprene one that has to be folded over around the neck but looks very comfy and dry - perhaps we see the same sort of seal on the drysuit in the future. The cuffs are standard rubber drysuit material and should work fine. The entire waistband has been made out of neoprene with Velcro on it so there is effectively unlimited adjustment which looks great. There is also the Tp1 Stealth Spray Top (£70) that comes with a Velcro neck seal and cuffs.



The Stealth Pro Buoyancy Aid (£45) is another product with a variety of small yet useful features. Interestingly it zips up at the front, something many other buoyancy aids do not do. To help with fit the stretchy neoprene sides have two side adjusters that tighten by pulling forward, making it easy to adjust for the wearer. We also like the belt inside the jacket to help keep it in place and ensure a secure fit.

Finally a new range of gloves from the company looks very promising. Incorporating 'Maxgrip' material for the palm – a material used by rock climbing companies and sourced by Henri Lloyd for their new gloves. The gloves are available in short and long finger varieties (£20) as well as a neoprene winter pair (£22.50). With Kevlar stitching throughout these look like gloves that will definitely take some abuse and the Maxgrip material does seem very grippy. The best pair in our view were the Stealth Winter Gloves which felt warm and comfortable. They also have a very nice cuff system where one cuff goes under your wetsuit and another goes over, leaving a nice effectively watertight/weather tight seal.