Sail Ho!

For as long as I can remember, the sea has whispered to me. Not just the endless horizon, but the pull of sail and rigging, the creak of a wooden deck, the thrill of wind as an engine. At school, while my English master valiantly battled to keep me focused – I was away with John Masefield’s tall ships – “I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky”, or, more prosaically, “Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack, Butting through the Channel in the mad March days.” Poetry, for me, was always an invitation to voyage.

If poetry gave me my first voyages, Cornwall gave me my first sails. At ten, perched nervously in a gaff-rigged cruiser on the Helford estuary, I learned that the pull of the wind on canvas was every bit as thrilling as I had dreamed. Decades later, that same love for boats—in all their forms—still runs deep. Over the years, I’ve sailed almost everything from small dinghies to massive ocean racers, and from Masefield’s “mad March days” in the English Channel to the sunny blue seas of the Tropics and the Mediterranean.

Sunseekers and a champagne lifestyle at the Southampton Boat Show

So, when my editor suggested a trip to the Southampton International Boat Show, I didn’t hesitate. It was the first day of the show, one of those rare warm sunny days that mark the end of summer and the start of Autumn, and with the roof down on my convertible (perhaps for the last time this year), I pointed the car south and set out for England’s great maritime city.

The journey itself turned out to be an adventure—though not of the romantic variety. Southampton is, after all, a major port, a university town, and—judging by my experience—a shrine to the traffic light industry. Signposts to the Boat Show were as rare as a calm Biscay crossing. After a series of wrong turns, some inventive nautical language, and a growing respect for the patience of local drivers, I finally dropped anchor in a suitable car park.

The docks had been transformed into a playground for sailors, dreamers, and would-be yacht owners. Gleaming motor yachts rubbed shoulders with elegant sloops; pontoons were alive with the creak of rigging and the scent of varnish. On shore, marquees brimmed with everything from high-tech navigation gadgets to Breton-striped shirts and oilskins. There were companies ready to sell you a boat, teach you to sail it, insure it, or finance it. As the old saying goes, a boat is just a hole in the water into which you pour money—but what a joyful hole it is.

A 68ft Sunseeker – the epitome of luxury motor yachts
Sunseeker saloon, looking through to the sun deck aft
The luxurious owners stateroom in the Sunseeker

But who wants to be depressed by thoughts of imminent marine insolvency at a boat show? So, first stop – the Sunseeker stand, where luxury motor yachts glistened in the sun like floating palaces. I stepped aboard a 68-foot model, and for a fleeting moment, I understood the allure. Teak decks, glassed-walled saloons furnished with sofas that whispered, ‘champagne only, please’, and a flybridge with views to make an admiral jealous. Comfort oozed from every corner, from the galley bar (complete with fridge for that all-important G&T) to the owner’s suite below. The price tag? A cool £3 million, with another half million for “extras.” Even filling the fuel tanks would set you back £3,000. A lifestyle for some, but not for me.

If all that is just a touch too much, there are alternatives, and this is where the boat show really excels. For many of us, the romance of boating lies in canvas and wind, not twin engines. Beyond the motor yachts stretched a forest of masts—sleek ocean racers, capable of circling the globe, sturdy cruisers, and small day sailers built simply for family fun on a summer afternoon.

44ft Hallberg Rassy – a serious sailing yacht for cruising across the world
The saloon below deck in the Hallberg Rassy
Inside the Hallberg Rassy – Sailing yachts have less room than motor yachts, but this one can still accommodate a stylish owner’s cabin

One of the showstoppers was a beautiful sloop. The Hallberg-Rassy 44, built in Sweden, has the kind of craftsmanship sailors dream about. At 44ft, she was big enough to accommodate a family in comfort for a long-ish cruise and clearly capable of holding her own in club races. With a centre cockpit on deck, a comfortable saloon and galley, berths for at least six, including a luxurious owner’s cabin that looked more boutique hotel than boat, this is sailing on a grand scale. Of course, that comfort comes at a price – seven figures, easily.

Fortunately, yachting isn’t all about millionaire budgets. Wander far enough and you’ll find humbler, but no less capable, vessels. My favourite discovery was a Westerly Fulmar 32, built in the 1980s but looking superbly seaworthy. Sturdy, practical, with berths for five and a galley ready for weeks afloat, she carried a far more approachable asking price: just £19,000. Proof that adventure on the water doesn’t have to drain your life savings.

Westerly Fulmar. 40 years old but good for another 40, and shows why one should never neglect the market in used yachts
Westerly Fulmar main saloon looking towards the stern
Tom Cunliffe working hard at book signing

No boat show is complete without a brush with sailing royalty. For me, it came at a bookstand, where Tom Cunliffe, broadcaster, sailor, and author of essential guides like the Channel Pilot, was signing copies of his latest work, Hurricane Force. A quick chat, a signed copy in hand, and I was ready to leave the masts and decks behind.

Back in the tangle of Southampton’s traffic lights, the magic lingered. The Boat Show isn’t just about buying boats. It’s about rekindling the dream – the simple pull of the sea, the creak of rigging, the promise of adventure. Whether your dream is a £3 million palace or a second-hand cruiser with stories in her timbers, there’s nothing quite like a tall ship and a star to steer her by.