Big is best-seller at boat show

Wealthy foreigners are snapping up huge British-made "gin palaces" at London's boat show.

Boatmakers say they have been astonished by the level of interest and sales at a time of slowdown in the global economy. Although sales figures are not yet available, last year's record turnover looks certain to be beaten.

Poole firm Sunseeker has had customers from as far afield as China and Australia. Managing director Robert Braithwaite said: "It's been very encouraging. The buzz has been good, some deals have been struck and the bigger boats have been selling better than the smaller ones."

Sunseeker has the biggest boat to be launched at the show: a 34-metre speedboat with accommodation for up to 10 people plus crew, and capable of up to 30 knots. With a £6 million price tag, Mr Braithwaite said 10 had already been ordered.

The firm also has the show's biggest boat, a 37-metre three-deck craft costing £ 11.5million. Ten have been sold in its first year, including one to Formula 1 tycoon Eddie Jordan. About 90 per cent of the 325 boats Sunseeker will make this year will be exported.

Bryan Jones, marketing manager of Northamptonshire company Fairline, said: "There has been no reduction in appetite. We have sold 18 boats in the first four days - that's ahead of where we were at the same stage last year. We have a £100million order book and for one of our models we are taking orders for delivery in 2011."

Clive Nightingale, a 50-year-old company director, has been a regular visitor to the London Boat Show since 2001.

He paid £500,000 for a Sealine T50 - his fourth boat - in November. "It's a big sports boat, very spacious," he said. "She can sleep eight. I drive a Bentley but this gives you more of an adrenaline buzz than a car. It's like a holiday apartment with the advantage that you can always change the scenery."

Show organiser Howard Pridding said: "We face challenging economic times but we are certainly not seeing it in the first few days."

For visitors after a more affordable option there is a 1.5-metre dinghy, the Reid Marine Starfish - at £545, the cheapest boat in the show, at the ExCel centre in Docklands.