London Boat Show 2018 receives royal visit

IF YOU HAVE EVER wondered what a princess does all day, you’re now a little closer to finding out the answer – at least as far as the UK’s senior princess goes. HRH Princess Anne spent time last Wednesday at the 64th London Boat show.

HRH Princess Anne was accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence. They are both keen sailors – and visited a number of stalls at the Show. As well as businesses connected with sailing, they also met representatives of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) – the UK’s largest lifeboat and lifeguard charity.

HRH Princess Anne is President of the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), and in that capacity she presented the RYA Yachtmaster of the Year award during her visit to the Show. The award went to four times paralympian Hannah Stodel, who was commended for first class sailing skills and the empathy for others which she displayed when passing her RYA Yachtmaster certificate of competence examination.

Howard Pridding, Chief Executive Officer at British Marine, commented, “We were delighted to once again welcome HRH The Princess Royal to the London Boat Show. As an industry, we are honoured to have the interest and support of such an esteemed public figure. She always demonstrates keen interest in all things boating when visiting the Show.”

The London Boat Show ended on 14th January – amid very positive reports of the event from all parties. Over 52,000 visitors had attended – and sales appeared to have increased too.

The Boating & Watersports Holiday Show was also launched at the main event – an outlet for committed sailors to find even more opportunities to indulge their passion for spending time on the water.

The Boat Show was organised by British Marine. Don’t be too sad if you missed it – just diary the next one!
•The Southampton Boat Show will take place from 14th-23rd September. For more information, go to:
Southampton Boat Show 2018
•The 2019 London Boat Show will take place from 9-14th January at the ExCel centre. For more information, go to:
London Boat Show 2019

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