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Wetwheels made her debut at the PSP Southampton Boat Show last month and was undoubtedly the star of the show.  Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, the wonderful Dame Mary Fagan did me the great honour of naming her “Wetwheels” on the first day of the Show, then followed a hectic 10 days of exhibiting and taking groups of people out on trips.  To be honest, I just hung around and played the “happy owner” whilst my crew, Tony (skipper), Karen (Suzuki’s meeter/greeter/photographer), James (first-mate) and Barry (Cheetah marine) did all the hard work.  The statistics were quite amazing – in ten days we took in excess of 240 people out for trips, and of those 240, approximately 150 had a disability and, of the 150, about 40 used wheelchairs.  Many charitable groups like Naomi House, Rose Road Association and the Hexagon Centre had pre-booked but many of the trips comprised disabled people who had not previously heard of Wetwheels and were just visiting the Show, not realising (until pounced on by Suzuki) that they could actually go for a spin on a specially adapted boat.  To see a short video CLICK HERE to see a collection of photos CLICK HERE  We have created our very own Facebook page CLICK HERE to visit and she also has her own dedicated website http://www.wetwheels.co.uk/ (This is only a BETA site at present and is undergoing considerable changes daily whilst we get it right so check back regularly).  Wetwheels will shortly be entering service, most likely in the Portsmouth area (subject to various agreements) at which point she will continue to provide a mix of not-for-profit use by charities to take out disability groups and commercial charter.  To register your interest, I suggest you sign up to the Wetwheels Facebook page where all updates will be made.

A group of guys enjoying Wetwheels

Not sure I should be sharing this but PSP who sponsor the Southampton Boat Show hold a fancy dress party each year.  PSP, possibly the best shipping/logistics company in the world, is owned / run by the nicest guy in the business (don’t tell him I said that), the wonderful Frank Dixie and daughter Jo. The theme for this year’s party was “Out of this World”.  The date coincided with our 24^th wedding anniversary so it was a choice of a romantic dinner for two or, my brainwave, to paint ourselves as green ogres and go to the party as Shrek and Princess Fiona. As you can imagine, Elaine was over the moon with my decision, you can tell by the look on her face.  Next year is our 25^th wedding anniversary; I don’t think I will get off so lightly again.

Not a happy bunny..

Of several official duties I had to perform during the Show, there was one which had me bursting with pride for one young man. Many months ago I gave a talk to 700 students at Burgate School (New Forest) at about 8.30 in the morning.  Trust me, 700 teenagers at that time in the morning is a “tough gig”. Unusually for a school talk, a few weeks later I received dozens of handwritten “thank you” letters from the students which, in itself, was very rewarding to read such lovely letters. I later learned that one student with his own personal challenges had been inspired by my talk and, at the suggestion of his teacher, had applied for an MDL sailing bursary. Beating several hundred applicants, 14 year old Alistair was one of 8 children chosen in a competition to sail on the John Laing tall ship, operated by the Ocean Youth Trust, from Lowestoft to Southampton.  At the Show, I had the very great honour of presenting Alistair with his trophy on the MDL stand.  Ali was later introduced to the Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Well done to MDL, the OYT, Amanda Jukes, but above all, to Ali – hopefully the opportunity has given him an insight into the world of sailing although his self-confession of having vomited no fewer than 24 times may make him think twice in future.

(Allistair and his trophy)

Another fun duty was attending the Rose Road Association (of which I’m a proud patron) and hear my good frien Dee Caffari speak of her epic record-breaking challenges. I mean this as a compliment – if you are ever lucky enough to  hear Dee speak, look around and see everyone, open-mouthed, totally captivated, hanging on her every word - it really is a treat to hear Dee.  Good luck to Dee and her endeavours and please do support the Rose Road Association if you can.

Dee (far left), myself and Neil Wilson (Rose Road)

One aspect of the Show which niggles each year is disabled access onto the stands.  The site itself (spread over three different parks) presents many problems to exhibitors and planners, not least curbs, grass, makeshift halls, roads, bridges and access to the water via pontoons.  Ironically, it’s the access to the pontoons and water itself which presents the least of the problems.  I’ll refrain from naming and shaming the main villains but some exhibitors have clearly invested a bit of time into the issue and deserve to be formally recognised.  Dean & Reddyhoff and MDL in the marina category deserve congratulations for their ramps.  Andark is definitely worthy of congratulation for its ramp in the clothing category.  Along one row of a dozen stands, only one, Multihull World / Multimarine, had a ramp (interestingly Multimarine build wheelchair accessible boats so they not only recognise the problems of access, but are tapping into the lucrative disability sector – good on them),  Of the marine engine providers, congratulations to Suzuki Marine, Cummins Onan, Volvo Penta and Finning CAT.  To see a photographic collection of Saints & Sinners taken at this year’s Show, CLICK HERE – I will let you decide who got it right and who got it wrong.  OK, this was not a scientific survey, but it does raise a very valid point and it is surprising that so many exhibitors are allowed to get away, so blatantly, with providing no access.  This does not happen at the London Boat Show at Excel because Excel has a policy whereby exhibition organisers must confirm that exhibitors at their show will comply with their equal access policy.  CLICK HERE to read that policy. As far as I am aware, Southampton City Council, owners of the land, have no such policy in place for the Southampton Boat Show which is a shame. Having said that, organisers National Boat Shows and sponsors PSP have always bent over backwards to help where they can and deserve special thanks for their support, not least the excellent temporary lift which is installed each year for my own personal use so I can access the free PSP hospitality each year (before you write and complain, I am of course joking. Frank wouldn’t dream of giving me free PSP hospitality).

Saint or Sinner?

Life after the Boat Show continues and I’ve since had the privilege of attending two very worth causes.  A week ago, with temperatures hitting 26 degrees, I had the honour of starting the Dorset Access “Race for Equality” at Bournemouth Pier.  Congratulations to the 200+ runners, adaptive cyclists and swimmers of all abilities who endured the heat to make their way from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Pier.  Having exhausted myself from dropping the starting ribbon at 10.00am and watching the participants physically exerting themselves for such a great cause, I decided to relax and take things easy so I stayed on the beach for another two hours, topping up the tan with the other beach lizards; quite amazing weather for October. CLICK HERE for more details on the race.

Myself and Brother Francis

And this week I had the honour of presenting the “Geoff Holt Sailing Trophy” to Ed Bailey and Alex Roberts at Speech Day at my old school, St Mary’s College.  It was my first return to the school in 30 years since I left in April 1982.  It felt really strange, absolutely everything was as I remembered it, not one building had changed at all, even the dining room smelled the same.  Well, I say nothing had changed.  The school is now co-ed whereas 30 years ago, girls were something you only ever saw out of a bus windows or at the annual St Mary’s and St Anne’s disco, and even then it was only look, but don’t touch.  Now the school is mixed and it seemed really odd to see girls wearing our boys uniform.  Stop what you are thinking right now.  Great to see my old form teacher Mr Richardson (Ian – I just couldn’t call him that so I called him Mr Richardson which sounded totally ridiculous) and our first headmaster, Brother Francis – he was the gentle one before we had the sadistic Brother Paul.  Putting aside all of my personal hang-ups with my school years (read my book for details), I’m grateful for the opportunity to return and it was somehow reassuring that it remained exactly as I remember it.

Dates for your diary:

Saturday 12^th November. “An evening with Geoff” in aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Simon Says charities at the Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth CLICK HERE for more details

Wednesday 23^rd November. “An evening with Geoff” in aid of the SW Multiple Sclerosis Centre and the Disabled Sailing Association at the Langstone Cliff Hotel, Dawlish CLICK HERE for more details