A few years ago there were good reasons to fear for the future of the annual RYA Dinghy Show, especially after the demise of the main London Boat Show held at Earl's Court, then a controversial venue change for the Dinghy Show itself, immediately followed by it's forced cancellation during the Pandemic
It came back though, and is now in it's fourth year at it's new base at Farnborough Exhibition Centre and with the official visitor numbers showing a modest increase for each of those four years. The show now (and unlike when it was at any of it's previous venues) takes place in a single large hall, and while that hall isn't yet filled to capacity it does seem to occupy more of it each year – and not just because there are more exhibitors in total but because there are more of the right
sort of exhibitor.
UKFFA have exhibited at every Dinghy Show for many years (even the Covid-era 'virtual show') and it's not necessarily a cheap exercise to do or one which can be shown to give a quantifiable return in terms of membership subscriptions and the like. The intangible benefits to the class are huge though, and I'm sure we'll be at the show for many more years to come.
This year we had two boats at the show, one built by Brett & Ben Dingwell and fitted-out by owner Charles Apthorpe and one built by Ovington Boats and fitted out by Impact Marine. The Dingwell / Apthorpe boat, constructed from a new mould and featuring a new hull shape, is particularly interesting and we hope to bring you a dedicated article about this in the future. In the meantime though please see the various photos below for more information on both boats at the show