London Calling - 2004 London Boat Show

The Schroders London International Boat Show, in association with The Daily Telegraph, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in style this January when it moves to Europe's premier exhibition centre, ExCeL. The vast size of ExCeL, coupled with its prime waterside location in the heart of London's Docklands, provides the perfect venue for the show that will attract thousands of visitors from home and abroad. The show will run at ExCeL from 8-18 January 2004.

The show will be officially opened by famed sailor Ellen MacArthur. She plans to launch her new 75-foot B&Q/Castorama trimaran in a live broadcast directly from Sydney to the Show on the opening day. The images of the launch will be broadcast on a giant screen at the heart of the Show. To find out more about Ellen MacArthur visit www.EllenMacArthur.com.

The additional space provided by the new venue will allow for more features and visitor attractions than ever before as well as a spectacular array of world-class boats, ranging from luxury dream yachts to affordable entry-level dinghies. Making a welcome arrival to the show is the fabulous water sports arena complete with a spectacular water sports pool (30x70 metres) with fans generating 25 knots of wind and seating for over 1,500 people. This great new facility promises to entertain with sailing demonstrations, races and coaching sessions.

ndoor pool for the UK Indoor Windsurfing Championship. Photo courtesy British Marine Federation

The water sports arena also enables the Show and National Boat Shows (NBS) to host the first ever UK Indoor Windsurfing Championships, working with the UK Windsurfing Association (UKWA) and the Professional Windsurfing Association (PWA). These national championships will see men, women and junior contestants, from the UK's windsurfing elite, competing in freestyle and slalom disciplines. Top UK windsurfers Nik Baker, Robbie Swift and John Skye hope to be among those competing. Winners of this UK competition will challenge windsurfing champions from around the world including competitors from the PWA World Tour such as Matt Pritchard (USA), the current world number one in men's freestyle and Ricardo Campello (Brazil).

The dockside location of ExCeL means the show can now include three tall ships, including the Tall Ships Youth Trust's Prince William, larger exhibitor yachts and HMS Northumberland, a type 23 naval frigate - at 133 metres long the naval frigate will be the largest boat on display. Launched in 1992, the ship displaces 4000 tonnes and is 133 metres in length. HMS NORTHUMBERLAND and her 185 crew are capable of many diverse roles. She is armed with the sea wolf surface-to-air missile system, harpoon anti-ship missiles, a 4.5 inch gun and anti-submarine torpedoes She also carries a lynx helicopter that can carry out a wide range of roles including search and rescue, submarine hunting, the destruction of enemy surface ships and the insertion of boarding teams to search suspect vessels (this latter role is often carried out by the Navy's own sea soldiers, the Royal Marines). The ship will be open to visitors 10-12pm and 2-6pm daily during the show.

Explore over half-a-mile of dockside with tall ships, historic London boats, naval craft, including a frigate, and an 80m multipurpose pontoon barge - all lit at dusk to create a truly magical experience.

Boats on display include:

* Prince William - A 60 meter brigantine built in 2001 for the Sail Training Association. Climb on board, explore below deck and enjoy the daily rigging demonstrations in the 45 metre masts

* Mare Frisium - A 52 metre three mast Dutch schooner built in 1916.

* Swan Fan Makum - A unique vessel built as an exact 19th century replica in 1993. She is a true windjammer with her fourteen sails totalling over 1300 square metres.

* Thames Barges - Explore three restored flat-bottomed, broad-beam, spritsail coastal and river barges - all around 26 metres long - which were the lifeblood of Thames coastal and river traffic from the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries.

* The Portlight - Built in 1925 with an on-board exhibition about its home town of Maldon

* The Lady Daphne - Built in 1923

* The May - Built 1891 and owned by Tate & Lyle

* Steam Tug, Challenge - Step on board the only operating steam tug in the UK. Newly restored, it will be in steam throughout the Show.? It was built in 1935 and is 30m long.

* River Fire Tender, Massey Shaw, (24m built 1935) - Beautifully restored and now in private hands it will be giving an aquatic pumping show every day

At night the feature boats along the dockside will be lit.

Photo courtesy British Marine Federation

Also new for 2004 is the Waterscape.com Inland Waterways attraction, supported by British Waterways and the Environment Agency, dedicated to the world of canals, lakes, rivers and the Broads. Many different types of crafts will be on display, from narrow boats, wide bean cruisers and dayboats, as well as a focus on waterways restoration and environmental issues with an array of eco-friendly electric boats and the famous solar-powered 'Ra', from the Broads National Park. In the heart of the new feature will be a specially built real ale pub, The Fox @ Waterside, sponsored and operated by London City Taverns, complete with working waterwheel.

Photo courtesy British Marine Federation

Other features include the Classic Boat family feature where visitors can enjoy restored sail and power classic boats and the RYA Powerboat feature where visitors can test their sea skills on the simulators.

The show will be open daily from 8-18 January 2004 from 10am until 7pm, except for Friday 9th and Thursday 15th when the show will stay open until 9.30pm and on Sunday 18th when the show will close at 6pm. Reduced priced show tickets are now on sale
through the ticket hotline at £10.50 (£12 on the door). To book tickets, call the ticket hotline on +44 (0)115 912 9111. Seats can also be secured for individual windsurfing sessions and range from £3.00 to £5.00.

For the Windsurfing event please call +44 (0)871 2228313 and ensure you quote the Reserve-a-Seat scheme. (Please note there will be a number of unreserved seats however these will operate on a first come, first serve basis).

Visit www.londonboatshow.com for further information.